A Balancing Act
by R. Clowe
Summary: Atlantis has been idle for months. No attacks. No injuries. No problems. Until one day, Elizabeth has that gnawing feeling...And circumstances become dire for John Sheppard.
1. Chapter 1

Things had been going too well lately.

Elizabeth Weir knew when something was going to go wrong. The Daedalus had made its supply run without any delays and all the Stargate teams were coming and going according to schedule. Barring a few firefights here and there, things were going well. Too well.

Nothing ever stayed constant in the Pegasus galaxy. If any situation was going sour, there'd be some sort of good luck or miracle—usually by Rodney—to get them out of it. Now it was the opposite…everything was fine. This made Elizabeth very edgy. Something was bound to happen sooner or later. They'd never gone this long without losing someone or being under attack.

"Dr. Weir?"

She tilted her head upwards, spying Dr. Zelenka in the doorway. Plastering a welcoming smile on her face, Dr. Weir moved her hand towards the chair in front of her desk. "Come in, Dr. Zelenka."

He gave a tentative smile and sat down across from her. "Dr. Weir," he acknowledged with a tip of his head, "I'm only here for a moment. There have been fluctuations in the northeast naquadah generator that Rodney's been harping about for several days now…"

"Of course," Elizabeth responded. She prodded, "Go ahead."

"Well…" Zelenka's hands played with one another, his nervousness obvious, "Today is our day off and I was thinking of tweaking some systems—nothing against protocol, of course—to secure a more…enlarged—or bigger, if you will…viewing device for recorded films because, you see, the scientists would like to…"

As Radek rambled on, Elizabeth scrutinized the doctor. She knew giving both military and civilian personnel a mandatory day off every five days would come back to haunt her. They'd only need a skeleton crew during that particular day, but plenty of antics and trouble followed regardless of how much fun the expedition was having.

She braced herself. "You want to alter Atlantis' systems to set up a larger television screen for movies?"

She tried to hide her smile as Radek fidgeted in his chair. "Well, yes. We had a movie marathon planned for today and…we were unsure how you'd take it once you found out." Elizabeth had to hand it to him. She _would_ find out, there was no doubt about that. Rodney, on the other hand, would take his chances. Zelenka was taking precautions. But she couldn't let this slide so easily. She'd have to ensure that inconsequential matters couldn't always be advocated and passed off so quickly or it might become a habit.

"Will this affect any other systems or dampen any power in the immediate vicinity?"

Dr. Zelenka's anxiety seemed to disappear almost immediately. "No, this sort of manipulation would be very minor at best. It will not affect Atlantis' systems whatsoever."

Elizabeth eyed him critically. He didn't fidget or shift under her gaze. Years of perfecting the art of diplomacy told her he was a hundred percent certain no other systems would be affected. His body language gave that much away.

"Very well, Dr. Zelenka." He let out a sigh of relief. "However, tomorrow morning I'd like the generator to be returned to its original status."

"Of course, Dr. Weir." Actually, he looked remarkably giddy right about now...That gnawing feeling was coming back. "I appreciate it. Have a good day." He was backing out of her office awfully quickly...

Elizabeth braced herself for the worst.

**-------SGA-------**

Golf was a difficult game.

Ronon refused to call it a sport. It didn't have a great amount of activity or movement, there was no one getting hurt (unless he continued to ricochet balls off the wall to hit Sheppard), and it wasn't of any great benefit to himself.

How he actually ended up with Sheppard for another afternoon playing golf was another matter. After having gotten a little too "trigger happy" during their last off-world mission (how was he supposed to know the king of that world was supposed to be dressed like an assassin? Damn customs...), Sheppard decided he needed to calm down. Ronon disagreed. He _was_ calm. But Sheppard was having none of it. And now here they were, on the edge of Atlantis. Playing golf.

"Look, all I'm saying is that lifeguards are a vital part of the beach. They save lives everyday! Plus, where would we be without Pamela Anderson and her slow-motion running?"

"Probably in better control of this galaxy..." Ronon grumbled.

John's head shot up. "What was that?"

"Nothing." Ronon swung sideways with his driver. The golf ball hit the wall to his right, bounced behind the two men into a corner and pelted Sheppard in the rear.

"What the hell?! I know you're not any good at this game, but at least keep the ball out_there_," Sheppard gestured wildly towards the ocean. "And don't think I don't know that you're doing this on purpose! I remember your first swing! It's not like you suck at this!"

Ronon smiled. It was fun to rile him. "Lifeguards are a waste of time and money. If people can't swim then they shouldn't be in the water."

Rubbing his injury, Sheppard grabbed another ball from the bucket and set it on the tee. "But if they're never in the water, how will they learn to swim? And really, how could you deprive someone of swimming? I think that's a crime."

"It's not a crime."

"Yeah, well, it should be." Sheppard appeared thoughtful. "In fact, you know what? We should go swimming. When was the last time you went swimming?"

"Don't have time to go swimming. Movies are starting soon."

Movies. Though advanced in weaponry and other similar technology, Satedans had never actually focused on aspects of light and created film. Sure, they had 'plays' and various theatrical events, but they'd never had the resources to create a whole different world. Ronon was visually impressed, especially with the action films, though that was to be expected. He'd also taken to rooting for the killer in slasher films because, really, how stupid were those people?

Sheppard seemed to deflate. "Ah, crap. I forgot about that. They won't put _Star Trek_ on until late anyway."

Ronon rolled his eyes. Sheppard and McKay often took hold of the television room, specifically for their science-fiction films. It wasn't so bad, at least until Elizabeth discovered they were using their positions as head of military and science departments, respectively, in order to book the TV room for days at a time.

"Should we get ready?"

Sheppard paused, considering the question. "I think I'll hit a few more."

"Then I'll see you there." Ronon opened the large, bulking doors and headed back into the depths of Atlantis.

Golf was boring.

**-------SGA-------**

"No, these are NOT the energy readings I calculated from the generator. These are YOURS."

Teyla cringed. Even after months and months of being in the company of Dr. Rodney McKay, one could never fully get used to the anger and annoyance that irradiated from him. Especially since his voice traveled so _far_.

"Well, you can do this by yourself then!"

Now she smiled. She could always count on Dr. Zelenka to keep him in line. Until he left the room and left Rodney to his own devices, of course. One could only endure McKay for so long.

"Fine! I will! And it will run smoother than your calculations ever would have!"

"Fine! Enjoy your own loathsome company!"

"I will thank you very much!"

"Fine!"

"FINE!"

And with a huff, Dr. Zelenka rushed past her and out the door.

Stepping cautiously forward, Teyla grazed her fingers along a nearby desk covered in laptops and errant pieces of paper. Someone's calculations. She recognized the jumbled, incoherent handwriting. Rodney's calculations.

"Dr. McKay?" Teyla ventured, being careful not to startle the scientist.

"WHAT?" McKay's head shot up from behind a desk, glaring holes into Teyla's head. His face softened immediately. "Oh, Teyla…Hi…there. Don't mind Radek. He's just cranky as always because my idea was better."

She raised her eyebrows. "Oh really?"

McKay fidgeted. It was hard for him to lie to her. "Well, no, not really, but mine's just as good! In just a few, short minutes we'll have the big screen up in no time! And someone better pick some damn good movies because Elizabeth told Zelenka we can only have this thing up until tomorrow morning."

"Elizabeth approved?" Disbelief ran through her. Surely Elizabeth could not accept all of John's, Rodney's and Zelenka's crazy schemes.

"Of course she approved. Why wouldn't she? It's a perfectly harmless, minor alteration in energy output to the naquadah generator so that I can reroute a small amount into the projector we have set up in the recreation room. This will account for perfect definition and picture clarity and—as a bonus—a two-hundred inch television screen!"

Teyla smiled.

"I know, it's great, isn't it?"

"That's not why I'm smiling, Rodney."

"Oh…then why are you smiling?"

"I just figured out what to get Elizabeth for her birthday. Thank you, Rodney." Teyla strode happily out the door to the lab.

With a mortar and a pestle, Teyla could grind up some of the kichiguru leaves and haru beans she acquired from their last 'Gate trip and mix them with water. She could then make a paste, mold them into tablet form and then refrigerate them for two days. This would make Elizabeth the perfect birthday present.

The concoction, most commonly known on Earth, would be aspirin.

Teyla's smile grew.

**-------SGA-------**

"Unscheduled off world activation! I repeat, unscheduled off world activation!"

The Stargate was dialing. Sound after sound of the coordinates being locked into place hit Elizabeth's ears like fresh bullets being fired from a gun. It was just a matter of time before those bullets reached Atlantis. They were long overdue for an attack.

Quelling her nervousness, Elizabeth stood up from her desk and walked to the railing overlooking the Gate room. She remained stoic, unmoving; a rigid pillar. A leader has to appear strong before their people and that's what she was doing. Everyone else in the gate room knew just as well as she did that they had been coasting lately. A smooth ride on a road without bumps. But a road can only travel so long.

"It's Major Lorne's IDC, ma'am," her control officer, Chuck, relayed to her.

The tension eased slightly in the Gate room at the mention of Lorne's team. SG-2 was sent out on a mission roughly eight hours ago and was not scheduled to return for at least another four hours. Either they have nothing to report, negotiations went sour or they were under attack. Elizabeth prayed it wasn't the latter.

"Lower the shield," she ordered.

The glowing barrier in front of the Stargate disappeared almost immediately, allowing entry to Atlantis. The distortions in the puddle in the middle of the Stargate were mesmerizing as Elizabeth waited for human bodies to rush through. Like ripples in a pond, except they did not move outwards in a circle. It was fragmented, indecisive. Unsure.

She could sense the apprehension in the room. Nothing was coming through. Perhaps this was the moment she was waiting for. That one problem that would begin a path of destruction. The catalyst that would set the entire city into motion to try to repair.

This feeling was nothing new. It gnawed at Elizabeth every single time the Stargate rotated. It was like riding the world's most unsafe roller coaster ride, waiting for the tracks to derail, the ride to fall apart or for the safety mechanisms to fail. It was difficult to handle.

And then a solid shape moved through the wormhole and entered the city.

Elizabeth smiled.

"Major Lorne," she called out. The relief that spread through her was massive as one by one, all of SG-2 stepped through the Stargate fully intact without any physical injuries. "Welcome back."

"Glad to be back, ma'am." Evan Lorne tipped his head upwards in her direction, gesturing that everything was alright. She sighed.

"Briefing room in two hours, Major." Lorne nodded and Elizabeth returned it before walking back to her office. Sitting down at her desk, she let a slow smile form on her face, satisfied that routine had somehow returned to her day. A regular briefing, a meeting with John during supper about military schedules and vacations that were long overdue for a few people and, perhaps, she would even sneak in a movie before bed.

**-------SGA-------**

Rodney McKay was, without question—according to himself—the smartest person on Atlantis. With a Masters degree in Astrophysics, countless published theses and a mind that could hold a great deal of calculations at one time, Rodney was content that no other person could surpass him in intellect.

"Then why the hell can't I get this to work properly?" he said aloud, slamming a balled-up fist into the wall. "Ow."

The energy alteration for the projector was simple enough, but energy readings were still fluctuating. A report he received yesterday from Zelenka mentioned something about the problematic naquadah generator in the northeast section of Atlantis, but these results were just so…_erratic_.

"Of course he'd leave me more work to do. Radek just can't seem to do anything himself nowadays." With a huff, Rodney set to work on his Tablet PC, courtesy of the Ancients. The device was about the size of a pad of paper and about as thick as a tree stump. It was light, though, which made walking around with it _much_ easier. Rodney decided he wouldn't carry a tree stump even if it needed it to save his own life.

The map on the tablet had several blinking areas in the northeast region, indicating some kind of failure in those areas. The lights were annoying.

He tapped his headpiece. "Zelenka, come in. It's McKay."

After clicking a few buttons, a garbled message came back through the small radio, "What is it, Rodney? I'm eating." To substantiate that claim, the sound of teeth entering some kind of fruit—probably citrus—could be heard on the other end of the headpiece. Rodney grimaced.

"What's the deal with these power fluctuations in Sector Four? I know you said they were there, but there's no base pattern to follow as to why it's messed up."

Zelenka's voice returned, clearly annoyed. "Kavanaugh is working on it with Jones. I wasn't able to get around to it today because we were testing the new personal shields we found in Sec—"

Rodney cut in. "New personal shields? Like the one I used to have?"

"Yes, like that one." Radek was exhaling a lot now. Definitely frustrated, McKay decided. But he had work to do. "We could not get the shields to work, though. They are fully powered, but for some reason they do not respond to our thoughts. As for the power fluctuations, they are not affecting any areas within the city. Their source is likely a short-circuiting power conduit, which can be fixed tomorrow. It's our day off, Rodney. Enjoy it."

Enjoy it? Rodney_was _enjoying it. Working on the city is what made Rodney happy, not lolly-gagging about, citing excuses for not working. As if Radek could understand that, coming from a guy who thought Warcraft was a better game than Starcraft. Seriously, what kind of backwards nation did he come from?

Though, now that Rodney thought about it, he was getting hungry…As if to verify that, his stomach growled, aching for some food. "Well," he supposed, "I guess Sector Four can wait until tomorrow for repairs…"

He tapped his stomach, "Time to get you some food!" He frowned, looked down, and tapped it again. "But we're not sitting next to Zelenka. Next thing he'll do is tell us that Battlestar Galactica is better than Star Trek. Ha!"

**-------SGA-------**

_Tick. Tick._

Elizabeth checked her watch. One o'clock in the afternoon. SG-2 should be arriving any minute now.

She tapped her fingers on the end of the long table. The briefing room was not the most luxurious of rooms on Atlantis. Drab walls, a boring table pattern and one lonely leader. At least you couldn't get distracted once conversation was started.

And it was making Elizabeth tired. It wasn't Lorne's fault—she knew—that Carson was thorough in his check-ups after missions. He had to take samples of bodily fluids, check them for physical injuries or punctures and ensure that they were mentally suitable to remain on-duty. Elizabeth did not envy his job at all.

_Tick. Tick._

And on that note, she didn't think anyone envied her job either. Her Timex was too slow. The second hand was always falling behind her laptop's clock in her office. She was late for two meetings yesterday due to the damn thing.

Speaking of late, the briefing room doors swiveled open and SG-2 quietly stepped inside. Major Lorne sat down closest to her, already familiar with the process in which she would rely on him for most of the answers. Lieutenant Cadman sat down to his left, clasping her hands together on the tabletop. Doctors Parrish and Samuels, who was the newest addition to the team, sat opposite their teammates.

"I trust your post-check-up went well?" Elizabeth queried.

"Yes, ma'am," Lorne replied. "You know Doctor Beckett. Always goes that extra mile to make sure we're okay. And then some."

Elizabeth grinned. "Yes, Major. Carson sure has his methods."

"You can say that again," Cadman spoke up, matching Elizabeth's grin. Lorne rolled his eyes, aware of the relationship between his Lieutenant and the good doctor.

"Can it, Laura. Mission briefing."

"Yes, sir!" Cadman stated solemnly, salute and all.

"Alright, alright. Let's get down to business, shall we?" Elizabeth folded her hands in front of her, wrinkling her uniform in the process. "What exactly happened on the planet?"

"Well, ma'am," Lorne started, "We arrived on PSX-487 and walked around for a few hours. Dr. Samuels," he tilted his head in Samuels' direction, "Located an energy source about thirty minutes from our location. We got there and found a rather advanced civilization. A city. It reminded me of Earth with skyscrapers—more advanced looking than ours—and lots of vehicles."

"They have transportation?" Elizabeth was excited. She knew the Wraith had tried to quell any resistance they came across in the Pegasus galaxy, going so far as to feed on any planet with anything resembling advanced technology. However, several races knew how to hide their technology.

"Yes, ma'am, they do." Lorne paused, unsure how to phrase his next thought. "They have a sort of wall around their city. It's not really visible to the naked eye unless you feel it. Cadman found that out the hard way."

"I didn't see it, okay? …My forehead still hurts."

Lorne smiled at her before turning back to Elizabeth. "They sent a security detail to cover our group when we arrived. They let us in, but not without us being escorted by a ton of guards."

Samuels spoke up, "The architecture of their buildings is impeccable. It's clean, it's precise, it's extravagant…And it's all powered by ZPMs."

Elizabeth was even more intrigued. "They have ZPMs?"

"Oh, yes. Well, we didn't actually see any ZPMs, but judging by my energy readings and the amount of power required to run all of their technology and the invisible technology on their city wall, it would take a rotation of four ZPMs to maintain that energy for even just two years. I can't see any other man-made energy source keeping their city from…well, shutting down."

"This…invisible technology," Elizabeth gestured with air quotes, "How much do you know about it?"

"Well, ma'am, we met with their leader, Theoron. Apparently, they have devices that can phase objects through solid matter." Elizabeth's eyes grew at that comment. "I don't think he wanted us to know, but we saw someone—quite literally—walk through a wall to enter a building on the street. It seems, according to Dr. Samuels, that they can manipulate light to make things invisible and also break complex particles down so that they can pass through solid matter."

"Wow…" Elizabeth was astonished. Acquiring the technology to go through solid matter would be extraordinarily beneficial to the expedition. And to go invisible! The Wraith and the Replicators would not even be able to _see_ Atlantis, even if they did know it existed.

"There's a problem though, ma'am." Lorne's eyes were downcast. That didn't bode well.

"Major?"

"Their leader, Theoron. He doesn't want to trade for anything we have. He didn't even want to hear what we had to offer. Realistically, the negotiations were over before they even began."

This was a problem. Possibly surmountable, but still a problem, nonetheless. "Did you offer him a meeting with me?"

"Yes, I did, ma'am. He declined, saying that he would rather be isolated from us. I told him about the war with the Wraith and he said he doesn't want any part of it. He wants to remain objective."

Elizabeth sighed. "So, he's Switzerland then…Wonderful."

Lorne looked disappointed.

"Major, don't worry about it. We can't hope to change someone's mind when they don't know the full extent of the circumstances."

Lorne looked up questioningly, "Ma'am?"

"We're heading back to that planet. I'm going to talk to him myself." She was adamant about getting that technology. This was the break they—and Earth—needed in this war. This would forever shift the balance of power into Atlantis' favor. This would be their ace in the hole and it would completely turn the tables on the Wraith.

"But he said—"

"I know what he said, Major, but this technology has the potential to give us victory. A victory against the Wraith. And not just a small win, but the whole damn galaxy. And I do not intend to let this opportunity pass us by. So, enjoy the rest of the day and get some rest, all of you. We'll head back tomorrow at eight a.m., sharp."

"Yes, ma'am." Lorne and his team stood.

"You're dismissed, SG-2. Enjoy your day."

**-------SGA-------**

"John Sheppard, please report to Sector Four, Room 452."

Now what?

John was tired of all the running around. After having put his golf clubs back in the sports locker, he had to rush back to his office and sort out the vacation schedule for several of the marines before his meeting with Elizabeth. It wouldn't look very good to arrive at their meeting and not have anything to discuss. She'd be pissed at him, that's for sure.'

Quickly establishing a workable schedule for the next two weeks for the marines, John shoved everything into a folder and put it on top of his desk. He was close enough to mess hall that he could run here just before supper, pick up the folder and meet Elizabeth there.

He was looking forward to sitting down in the rec. room and watching a movie. And halfway there it's no surprise that he's redirected again.

John looked up and followed the green lines to Sector Four. Things had started to get confusing as people were called more and more to the outer sections of the cities, so Elizabeth came up with a plan to more efficiently maximize everyone's time and make it easier to reach their destination. The six main sections of the cities were given different colours. A line of paint ran along the wall from the middle section of Atlantis to each respective section of the city with the designated color. Section Four was the color green, so John followed the nearest green to a transporter.

Using the map on the wall, John touched the nearest transporter location to room 452. He recognized it as a room that SG-6 had wanted to investigate after reports from Rodney that the Ancients may have harbored back-up drones there. He and Elizabeth had discussed what the best plan of action would be and both agreed upon looking into it.

He hoped he wasn't going to regret that decision.

After a very uneventful five minute walk from the transporter, John 'thought' the door open to room 452. With a 'whoosh' it rushed open and John was staring into the eyes of Lieutenant Waldon. "Lieutenant," John started, "Why am I here?"

Waldon glanced over his shoulder and John could see the other members of SG-6 rooting around in several large containers as high as John's waist. The Lieutenant returned his attention to John. "Guess what we found?"

He was smiling. That unnerved John, but they must have found something good. Especially since they called him all the way out here. "What is it?"

"Drones."

And now John was smiling. They nearly depleted all their drones for the chair during their latest clashes with the Wraith. A completely new and fully stocked supply would be insane. Rodney wasn't going to be happy now that John had more toys to play with.

"Well, let me see!" John through his hands up the air and bounced around with newfound energy. All of SG-6 was excited as well, seeing John's pleased expression.

John tapped his headpiece. "Rodney! We found the golden ticket!" Leaning over the edge of one of the containers, John stared down at their contents. Lovely, yellow drones stared back, ready to be locked, loaded and used to blow the Wraith out of the sky. It felt like Christmas.

A crackling at his hear let him know Rodney was responding, "What was that? A Willy Wonka reference? We're in the rec. room watching Die Hard right now."

"Well then yippie-kay-yay, 'cause SG-6 just found the mother load. Crates full of _drones_, Rodney."

Silence.

"Rodney? Are you there?"

"Yes…" A soft voice came back. "How many drones?"

"Hundreds, Rodney! There's tons here!" John placed his hand over one and felt the hard metal against his hand. It was cool to the touch. Something this deadly shouldn't feel so calming.

Silence.

"Rodney?"

"Hold on, would you? This is a good part of the movie."

John sighed and gave up. If Rodney wasn't going to join in on his happiness, then he could enjoy it all. He couldn't wait to tell Elizabeth.

"Hey Waldon! I'll be sure to tell Elizabeth what you found! Keep unloading them and I'll go get a team to help you carry 'em to the drone room." The drone room. That's what Rodney had come up with for the room below the 'chair room.' Real original.

Stepping out into the hallway, John spotted the green line of paint and began following it back to the transporter. The humming from Atlantis comforted John. A constant whir of noise that could lull one to sleep. It was awfully easy to find yourself listening to the sounds of Atlantis when one was alone.

"Halfway there," he spoke aloud, counting the number of turns it took to reach room 452. And on turn number seven, a rumbling took place that John could not have predicted. Atlantis screamed in pain in his mind and John grabbed his head, falling back against the nearest wall to the intersection.

The pain was excruciating. It felt like a migraine coupled with a lobotomy. John leaned against the wall for support, trying to maintain his balance and stay upright. Atlantis was hurt. John wanted to help, but could barely even think through all the noise. A loud, obtrusive sound was in his head and he couldn't get it out.

And then the wall blew open. Shrapnel went flying. John was lifted off his feet and thrown down the hallway.

And light turned to dark as John was knocked unconscious.

**-------SGA-------**

Time passed.

Quickly? Slowly? None at all?

His head hurt. That was to be expected, but it was still extremely painful.

He could smell burning. That meant one of two things. Either something was on fire or he was about to experience a stroke. Hopefully it was the former.

A hand on his head. Who the hell was that? Oh, right. That was his own hand.

Cracking open an eyelid, John blinked furiously to adjust to the light. Of course the lights still worked. A wall blows the hell open and, unsurprisingly, the lights still worked. Reality doesn't have to make sense, apparently.

And then the other eye opened. Blink. Blink. Blink. No dust. No smoke. Which means everything had settled and become stabilized. For now.

John struggled to sit up, using his elbows to roll over. Pressing his hands against the floor, he pushed up and leaned back against the closest wall. Hopefully this one wouldn't blow up too.

The ringing in his ears disappeared. His head cleared. He eyed the wreckage at the other end of the hallway from his position. The entire wall had collapsed. Naturally, no transporters were located this far out in Sector Four. Sectors One, Three and Five had exterior transporters since their naquadah generators were required to power the outside areas of the city. Coincidence? Highly unlikely.

Some kind of liquid was pouring down the right side of his face and John guessed what it is before he felt it. Blood. Lifting his right hand up, he touched the thick liquid and pulled his hand away, staring at the dark red mixture on his hands.

Great. Just great.

He needed to call for help. His headpiece had disappeared somewhere. That wasn't surprising since that would make it too easy to get out of this situation.

John used the wall to support himself as he used a hand to pull himself up. He laughed to himself, wondering who won the pool and picked the right date as to when Sheppard would next end up injured. Probably Zelenka. He was much better at gambling than anyone gave him credit for, that sneaky Czech.

Well, that didn't sound right. John couldn't hear his own laugh. He tried again and said, "Hello" to himself. Still couldn't hear it.

Taking a step forward, John teetered and crashed down on his left side. Gasping for breath, he realized what was wrong. The explosion had done more than just give him a head wound and disorient him. It had also done much more than block off his route to the center of Atlantis.

It rendered his hearing useless. Permanently.

He was deaf.


	2. Chapter 2

_Thanks for the reviews! This is really my first long piece of fiction, so I'm hoping it works out. The first chapter was the introduction chapter, so hopefully this is more exciting._

_ I don't have a beta for this story, so please excuse any typos (and point 'em out if you see any!). I like to read over my stuff several times to ensure it's typo-free, but, of course, you can only do so much._

_ Alright, enjoy! _

**-----SGA-----**

_**Twenty minutes earlier…**_

Three hours. That's all Elizabeth needed to wait for was three slow, boring hours to pass by. She would meet John at the mess hall, finish their meeting quickly and then she could go to bed. Six o'clock could not come soon enough.

Tapping her pen on her desk, she browsed through various reports of the past few days: SGA-1's meeting with the Regans, a primitive race that harvest plenty of grain, fruits and vegetables. Further negotiations could wield a very productive amount for Atlantis' food rations; SGA-4's discovery of gold deposits on P4G-332, which could reboot their economy on Earth should they ever need it; and finally, SGA-2's discovery of the Tallins.

The possibility of making Atlantis invisible was more important than anything Elizabeth had seen for days. Tomorrow morning she would have to be at the height of her diplomatic prowess in order to convince Theoron that she needed this. That the galaxy needed this.

"Doctor Weir!"

Elizabeth's head shot up. Chuck entered her office, stopping abruptly and knocking after realizing his less-than-polite entry. It was cute, but this wasn't a time for pleasantries. "What happened?"

Chuck folded his arms behind his back, his usual stance when delivering bad news. "There was an explosion in Sector Four, ma'am. We're not sure what happened, but it seems to have something to do with some uncontrolled power in the vicinity recently. Dr. Kavanaugh is working on it, but today is his day off…"

An explosion in the city. Of course there was an explosion in the city.

Nothing could ever go as planned.

"Call Doctors McKay and Zelenka up here. We need to find out what's going on."

"Yes, ma'am. Right away." Chuck turned to leave, but paused, resting his hand on the doorway.

Elizabeth caught his hesitance. "Chuck? Is there something else?"

"Yes, there is. Colonel Sheppard was just recently called down to Sector Four to aid SGA-6 in their search for viable weapons for Atlantis. We can't reach him or SGA-6 on the comms. I think all communications are down for that sector."

John was down there. And four other members of the expedition. "Alright, Chuck. Thank you. Go back to work and monitor the situation." Chuck nodded and quickly left her office.

Elizabeth reached for her headpiece and tapped one of the buttons. "Major Lorne, this is Doctor Weir. Please respond."

There was silence for several seconds. Elizabeth worried. If communications were down for the entire base than this was going to be one hell of a nightmare. Running a rescue operation without knowing any vital information was one of the most difficult and daring things Elizabeth had encountered. She didn't intend to do it again.

A whirring noise in her earpiece. "Doctor Weir? This is Major Lorne." She smiled.

"Major Lorne, we have a problem. There's been an explosion in Sector Four of Atlantis and at least five people are possibly trapped, including Colonel Sheppard. Can you and your team meet me in the Gate Room immediately?"

"Copy that, Doctor Weir. We'll see you there in five minutes."

"Understood, Major." So far, everything was going according to plan. She would just need Rodney's advice on the situation in case this was a power failure of some sort and go from there.

Walking into the control station for the Stargate, Elizabeth glanced around at the five people in the room working frantically on their computers. They were trained well, coping and adjusting to the situation more rapidly than she thought possible. "Chuck," she singled out, "Where do we stand?"

"Doctors McKay and Zelenka are on their way, McKay unsurprisingly grumpy." Chuck grimaced, clearly reminded of all the times McKay had yelled at him and literally thrown him backwards while still in his chair.

"Atlantis is reporting five life signs in the area." A blueprint of Sector Four appeared on a screen in front of Elizabeth showing five blinking lights, one quite a long way away from the others. "These four," Chuck stressed, pointing to the group of four white lights, "Is likely SGA-6. They're moving rather slowly, so I suspect they either did not hear the explosion or are trapped in the room that they're in."

"Wait, we can't tell where the explosion occurred?" Elizabeth queried.

"No, ma'am. Atlantis' electrical sensors and damage arrays were damaged in Sector Four. We can't tell where power is flowing in that region or where critical damage has occurred. However, Atlantis can still detect biological signs in the area, which is why we can still see where Colonel Sheppard and SGA-6 are."

Extensive damage to one section of the city. And Colonel Sheppard's life sign wasn't moving. "Tell Rodney and Radek to hurry up."

**-----SGA-----**

"Doctor McKay, Doctor Zelenka, please report to the Gate Room."

"Oh, come on! It's at the best part!" Rodney shouted. "This is ridiculous. I'm interrupted every time I'm enjoying something. If there was a God, he'd be hating me right now."

Radek rolled his eyes. Leave it to the whiny astrophysicist to victimize himself. It surprised Radek that Rodney had never expressed an interest in becoming a drama major because he would have surely succeeded.

They were watching Die Hard 2 now. Apparently this John McClane seemed to have the worst possible luck and yet would always triumph over the villains. Not that Radek was watching, he was just observing. His main focus was the game of Solitaire unfolding in front of him. Or so he'd swear it was if anyone asked him. Damn American movies.

"Rodney, we must go to the Gate Room," Radek called out, cutting off Rodney's tirade.

"See!" Rodney yelled, pointing at Radek. "Always interrupted!"

The Czech stood up. "If you want an interruption, I'll _give_ you an interruption."

"Oh yeah, what are you going to do? Assault me to death with your foreign jibberish!"

"If we did not work together, I would have cut off your—"

"Gentlemen, please, calm down." Teyla tried to placate the two scientists by slowly gesturing downward with her hands. She pointed behind her, indicating the entire Science department watching their argument.

Rodney exhaled and threw his hands in the air. "Oh please, it's not like they haven't seen two grown men fight before. They're watching Die Hard 2! With a vengeance!"

"Still, Rodney, Elizabeth ordered you two to the Gate Room. Now, I will take it upon myself to get you two there quietly. Chances are likely that you two need a—what is it you call it?—a chaperone?"

Radek felt insulted. "A chaperone? To follow around myself and this, this," he pointed at Rodney, "This abominable five-year-old?!"

Rodney puffed up his chest. "That's scientific genius five-year-old to you."

"I hate you." Radek purposefully strode towards the door, leaving Rodney in his wake.

"See? I told you, Teyla, he's clearly jealous."

"Yes, Rodney, I am sure that is the reason." Teyla tipped her head in the direction of the door, simultaneously glancing between both Rodney and Ronon. Rodney began walking out the door, but Ronon hesitated on the couch.

Teyla coughed.

Ronon deftly turned his head to the left, facing away from her.

"Ronon…"

"Alright, alright, I'm coming."

**-----SGA-----**

John pushed himself to his knees, taking care not to aggravate his headache. The pain was enormous, straining his vision and making any movement a chore.

"Maybe I should just wait this one out," John sighed. Talking seemed to be useless. He just couldn't hear his own voice. _Maybe it's not permanent..._He just always assumed there was a ringing in your ear or at least some kind of indication that your hearing wasn't completely gone. Clearly, he assumed wrong.

John eyed his surroundings. To his right, he could see the aftermath of the explosion. Large pieces of Atlantis' walls crowded the end of the hallway, piled on top of each other.

Sparks flew out of random areas. _The problem was likely electrical,_ he deduced, though it really could have been anything. There was a door directly in front of him and to his left was the corridor leading to SGA-6's location.

_Probably best to stick with greater numbers._ John tried standing, easing his hands along the wall behind him. His knees shook wildly, pained and bruised. He'd have to move down six hallways before reaching SGA-6. This was going to take awhile.

He took the first step and swayed to the right. Throwing his right hand in the air, John stabilized himself before falling over a second time. _It's going to take forever to get used to this…_Without sound to guide him, John nearly stumbled with every step.

Using the wall wasn't helping because he wanted to slide down it after every movement due to the pain. So he had to leave his comfort zone.

Stepping away from the wall, John extended both arms and slowly walked. "It's like walking a tightrope!" he yelled. The situation was angering him. He probably looked like an idiot and he definitely _felt_ like he just got hit by a puddle jumper.

_Carson better have the good stuff ready…_, John thought as he teetered back and forth at a snail's pace.

**-----SGA-----**

"Aye Elizabeth, I'll be waiting on standby with a medical team when ye need it."

"Understood, Carson. I'll inform you as soon as the area is stabilized." Elizabeth turned off her headpiece and turned to address everyone that was now assembled in the Gate Room.

"Okay, Rodney, I need a status report on what happened."

"Already done."

Her eyes widened. "Already? You just got here a few minutes ago."

"Well," he started, "It wasn't hard. Radek and I used the computers to isolate the problem. It appears a power surge hit Sector Four."

"A power surge?"

"A build-up of energy in one of the power conduits. It was relatively stable until…well, until I altered the systems to increase the size of the movie projector…"

Elizabeth froze. She turned to Dr. Zelenka. "Radek, did you not inform me earlier that no systems would be affected?"

He shuffled his feet and avoided looking directly at her. "Well, yes, but it was not me who made the alterations…" He pointedly looked at Rodney with distaste. "There was a differing of opinions on who should fix them."

"Whoa! Whoa!" Rodney held his hands up in a defensive posture. "Let's not play the blame game here, Mr. I-need-a-scapegoat. This was very clearly _your_ fault. If you hadn't assigned Kavanaugh to fix the problem and done it yourself, then there wouldn't _be_ a problem, now _would_ there?"

"I sent you a report on this matter three days ago! You signed your signature and told me to attend more important matters!"

Rodney stopped. "I did?...No, I didn't. You can't pass this off on me, you sneaky Czech. I know your kind. Manipulators. Gamblers. Probably invented the mafia for crying out loud."

"If we were on Earth I'd put a hit out on you just for the sake of—"

"Gentlemen!" Elizabeth had had enough. This was getting ridiculous. "We have a very serious situation here right now and I can't have my top two scientists fighting." Rodney pointed to himself and mouthed the words 'number one.' "Rodney." He looked at her. "Is there anything else I need to know? John could be seriously injured."

That sobered him up. McKay's face turned into one of dead seriousness. They had learned a few minutes earlier that John was still alive as he moved several feet down the corridor, but that did not mean he was not in danger of dying. A combination of anything could kill him, from blood loss to smoke inhalation to—Elizabeth cut that train of thought off. Now was the time to act, not think about what could happen if she didn't act.

"Rodney?" she asked, pointedly.

"Zelenka and I can fix the energy flow problem from here. When everything is stabilized we can perform the necessary actions to repair the power conduit using tools we have in the labs."

"What about the exact location where the explosion occurred?"

"Oh, right, about that. We used—"

"_I_ used," Radek interrupted.

"Right, right, shut up. _He_ used a topographical map that Simmons created that tells us about the elevation of each area in Atlantis. At this point here," Rodney indicated a darkish blue section about eighty feet in front of John's location, "There is a large blockage of mass. We can only assume that the explosion happened here and that all of this," he pointed at the dark blue blob, "Is debris."

"So John and SGA-6 are stuck there until we can remove the debris?"

"Yes, that sounds about right."

"Okay, thank you. Get to work fixing the power flow." Elizabeth turned to Major Lorne and his team. "Major, I need you to head down to Sector Four and determine the best course of action to extract the debris. By hand, machines, explosives, whatever is most efficient and can help us extract John and SGA-6 faster."

"Yes, ma'am." Lorne turned to leave.

"And Major." Lorne whirled around. "Please take Teyla with you."

Teyla looked up at Elizabeth. "Dr. Weir?"

Elizabeth pulled her aside. "You looked like you could use something to do. I know when teammates' are in danger everyone feels helpless. You're a fast runner and since communications aren't working in that area, you're the ideal candidate to relay information back here as fast as possible in case anything goes wrong."

Teyla smiled gratefully. "Of course. Thank you."

As SGA-2 and Teyla hurried at a jog to Sector Four, Ronon loomed over Elizabeth from behind. "Ronon, I know what you're going to say."

"I'm faster than her." He looked angry.

"I know you are. I need you _here_ in case we need to relay a message to them, such as more explosions or a greater threat to John or SGA-6."

He still looked angry. "I don't like it."

Placating him was difficult, but she couldn't afford to not hurt people's feelings right now. "You don't have to. Not everyone can be doing something. That's just the way these things work. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to update Carson about what's happened." Elizabeth strode across the room, up the stairs and towards her office.

Ronon watched her go. He couldn't help but grumble, "But it could've been Teyla not doing something."

**-----SGA-----**

John stopped. This wasn't working.

He'd traveled maybe, twenty feet. His feet hurt. His head hurt. And he was seriously thinking of passing out right about now…

John staggered to the right. _Whoa!_ He stopped himself, slamming a hand into the wall. This was taking forever. He looked behind him. A blood trail followed him, letting him know that he looked like a drunk that failed a sobriety test by walking a jagged line.

Holding his head, he slid to the ground. Another door was in front of him. It looked exactly like the last one. He never really noticed how boring Atlantis' interior was before. Everything looked the same. If it wasn't for that line of green paint running along the corridor, it would be pretty bare. _I guess the Ancients weren't really keen on the interior decorating business…_

Casting a glance down the rest of the hallway, John grinned. "Where's Grace Adler when you need her?" Spotting his blood trail, he continued, "And a janitor…Gross."

And yet, still no sound. If he was rescued, how could he manage to tell them anything? John didn't know sign language. He couldn't communicate with anyone. Well, he could poke McKay in the eyes Curly, Larry and Moe style, but that wouldn't really accomplish anything.

He wouldn't be able to head Atlantis anymore. Not being able to communicate with his personnel meant that he couldn't lead them. He couldn't debate with Weir anymore or spar with McKay over which movie is better. He hoped Carson could tell him something different. That this was just temporary hearing loss or some fluid was built up somewhere or the impact of his skull on some stupid, drab-colored wall just injured something.

You couldn't be acting military commander of an entire expedition in a different galaxy if you couldn't hear anything.

Punching the floor, John screamed. "FUCK."

But the sound never met his ears.

**-----SGA-----**

"Oh yeah, that's a wall of debris all right." Lorne whistled. There wasn't even a crack you could see through in the huge mess in front of him. "Looks pretty thick. Cadman?"

"Probably gonna have to blow it, sir. The pieces are too big to extract by hand and using mechanical means might take too long, especially since we can't use the transporters to bring them all down here."

She was right. They couldn't fit many people across this corridor. Maybe seven, at most. That would be far too little to try and remove everything. An explosion would be the most effective way to dispose of it all. But according to biological sensors, John would be in range of the blast._But he _was_ moving away from it…_

"Teyla." The Athosian met his gaze. "Cadman's right, we'll have to use explosives to gain entry to the rest of Sector Four. I'll need you to run back and ask Doctor Weir for permission. We also need to know if Colonel Sheppard is within range of the blast, should we use them."

She nodded. "Very well, Major. I'll be back as fast as I can." And with that, Teyla was off at a brisk pace.

"Cadman, get started on those explosives. I don't want to waste any time setting them up if we're given the go-ahead."

"I'm on it, sir."

"Well, Colonel," Lorne commented, staring at the devastation, "You always seem to top yourself when we get into these situations. What else is going to go wrong…"

**-----SGA-----**

"Rodney, how are we doing?"

"We? _I'm_ doing just fine, what with a lack of food in my stomach and all this constant bickering with Count Czechula over here."

Zelenka's head popped up from behind a console. "His name is Dracula, you sleigh-riding igloo builder!"

"Oh, we're not _that_ stereotypical up north! And I _know_ his name's Dracula. He comes from your country though, so it makes sense."

"He comes from Transylvania which is present day Romania! Though if you're that threatened, I'll be willing to drain the blood from your despicable body so that I can—"

"Radek. Enough. Rodney, is there any update about Sector Four?"

She needed any and all information she could get, of course. That didn't make Rodney any less insulted that she just steamrolled his masked comment about not getting enough time to eat. "Yes, there's an update. Radek and I have limited the power flow so that it's nowhere near the dangerous levels it was at earlier. It could still cause small explosions though. But if we get to the power conduit in time, there shouldn't be any complications or problems to worry about."

Elizabeth looked pleased. Secretly, Rodney just wanted to get this over with so that Sheppard could get patched up and he could return to watching his movies. This kind of thing seemed to happen every now and then, though it was long overdue. Trust this to occur on their day off.

The Gate Room personnel were beginning to annoy him though. They skirted around the room like bees, scanning each and every console. The problem was this prevented Rodney from scanning each and every console. He bumped into Chuck trying to access Atlantis' systems to see what capabilities she could still utilize in her de-powered state.

"Would you _move_?" he shouted testily, grabbing Chuck's chair and spinning it backwards. "Geez, it's like I'm in a hedge maze with moving obstacles."

Elizabeth was barking orders at some peon down the stairs. Radek was doing God knows what. _Probably waiting for me to make the next move and steal the credit for that, too…_And Sheppard was once again stuck in unknown territory fending for his life.

Rodney was tired of this constant scenario, but it seemed to always happen. And it always managed to get worse.

The only question was how…

**-----SGA-----**

Across the hall from SGA-6, a sudden surge of power blew apart a resistor somewhere in one of Atlantis' power conduits. The onslaught of electrical power traveled along one wire and sparked a switch. The lights turned on.

A laboratory of considerable size lit up. Four large, sturdy tables covered in dust. A computer monitor was built into the tabletop of each one. All four tables were arranged in such a manner that they were facing a center turnstile.

The turnstile hummed, granted power after being dormant for so long. Inside, several vials were arranged, lined up side by side. A small, metallic arm sat, unmoving, next to these vials. Three of them contained liquid; two were different shades of green, the other a faint violet color.

The computer monitor inside the third desk beeped to life, its screen processing the last known entered command. Apparently shutdown in the middle of a process, Ancient words spread across the console, initiating a program.

The metallic arm sprung to life. The turnstile grew louder in noise and started to spin. The three vials containing liquid drew closer to the arm, sloshing their contents around and around. The arm reached forward as the turnstile suddenly halted.

Grabbing the violet substance, the arm retracted. Intent on completing instructions, the arm extended upwards, aiming to place the vial on a pedestal inside a covered, plastic cocoon on the top of the turnstile.

However, the electricity from the power surge continued its journey, rushing past several enticing pathways, but ultimately heading towards the center of the room. Reaching the metallic arm, it attacked.

The arm staggered, short-circuited by the sudden burst of electricity.

The vial dropped.

It crashed to the floor and broke upon impact. Shards of glass skidded across the floor, while the violet substance evaporated within seconds. It rose into the air and entered the ventilation system.

Two minutes later, Atlantis began to panic.

**-----SGA-----**

"Dr. Weir!" Chuck called, beckoning her over.

Elizabeth was getting a lot of that lately. People were determined to give her any information they could to help her make the most informed decision. She was grateful, but everything was coming at her from all directions. She had to focus on the most useful.

And at that moment, Teyla arrived. Knowing full well that John's condition and that of the debris were more important right now, Elizabeth strode towards her.

Teyla was panting heavily. Elizabeth gave her a moment to compose herself before starting with the questions. "Teyla, what can you tell me about the condition down there?"

Ronon approached them, intent on knowing what was happening.

Teyla spoke up, "The debris from the explosion is blocking our path." She took a large gulp of air. "We will not be able to remove it very quickly, so Major Lorne proposed that we use explosives to get past it."

Elizabeth pondered this new information. Explosives were the fastest way to move through the debris. But an explosion could affect more systems due to the failure in confining the power flow. Plus, John could be too close to the blast and risk being even more injured than he already was. She needed to know more.

"Is there any other way to get them out? What about machinery?"

"No," Teyla supplied. "Lieutenant Cadman and Major Lorne decided that there was not enough room in the corridor to use machinery. It would still take too long if any of them are seriously injured."

Elizabeth nodded. Content with the decision to use explosives, she called out to Zelenka. "Radek, is John near the debris?"

He pushed his glasses up to the bridge of his nose and stared at a nearby screen. "No, he is not. He has managed to pull himself around a corner, probably in anticipation of us using explosives."

_Smart thinking,_ Elizabeth decided. "Alright then, Teyla, tell Major Lorne he has a go for the explosives. Tell him to try and minimize the blast to the center of the debris so that little further damage is done to the surrounding area."

"Right." And with that, Teyla began her second full-out run of the day, hurrying back to Sector Four.

Ronon stood nearby, folding his arms over his chest. "She's tired. I could go."

"I'm sorry, Ronon, but as I said, if any complications arise, we'll need you around."

He huffed. "Fine." Walking over to the nearest wall, Ronon leaned against it and waited.

**-----SGA-----**

A light turned on.

A light turned off.

On.

Off.

On.

Off.

On…

Okay, that was getting annoying.

John forced his eyes open and glanced around. He'd managed to crawl past the nearest corner and sat down.

His head was killing him. He raised his hand, inspecting the wound by touch. Pulling his hand back, he realized there was no fresh blood on it. It stopped bleeding. That was a good sign. He hoped.

He couldn't tell how much time had passed. Maybe a few hours. But the damn blinking light in front of him was annoying. Next to the door facing him, the crystals that allow a person to pass in and out of the door were blinking. _Painfully_ bright.

"What the hell?" he whispered to himself, listening to see if his hearing had returned. No such luck. Wonderful.

The light was unusually bright, nearly blinding him. Closing his eyes, John relaxed.

_Crap._ It was penetrating his eyelids. All he could see was red. Squinting, John opened his eyes again. The light was turning on and off very rapidly. Lazily turning his head to the left, John realized that no other lights were copying this one's actions.

And then the door opened.

And closed.

And opened.

And closed.

John was getting the sinking feeling that something wasn't right here…

**-----SGA-----**

"Dr. Weir!" Chuck called again, waving his hands in the air after she finished talking with Teyla.

Rodney was aggravated. "Leave her alone and let her know when you find something useful, will you?" he sniped, aiming his derision at the poor Control Officer.

Chuck glared at McKay. "Atlantis has regained control of several systems, including the electrical sensors. A second power surge has erupted in Room 453, which has not undergone inspection yet."

"So what? It's a foreign room and uncharted territory. Leave it alone and we'll fix the problem once we rescue SGA-6 and Colonel Sheppard," Rodney said casually. That didn't ease Chuck's bad mood, but his discovery was worth noting.

Alarm klaxons sounded. Red lights spun in the Gate Room. A loud siren penetrated Rodney's ears and alerted him that something had just gone very, very wrong.

"Turn the alarm off!" Elizabeth yelled, her voice straining to be heard over the cacophony that had erupted in the room. "Rodney! Find out what's going—" the alarms ceased, "ON!"

Picking up his Tablet PC, Rodney located a blinking red icon on the map of Atlantis, indicating the source of the problem. "Oh no…Oh no, oh no, oh no."

"Rodney?" Elizabeth came up behind him. "What's wrong?"

Zelenka started spitting out random words in Czech. Elizabeth had a strong feeling those were swear words.

Rodney stared at her. "We have a problem."

Elizabeth met his stare. "What kind of problem?"

He started clicking on things. "Atlantis has detected an airborne virus in Sector Four."

"What?! How?"

"Atlantis' sensors, both electrical and air filtration, just came back online. Approximately two minutes ago, a toxic substance was released into the atmosphere in…Room 453." Rodney was speaking faster, visibly upset and in a panic. "Atlantis cannot vent the pathogen. Her ventilation systems have been corrupted, but she can detect disturbances in the air and oxygen level deficiencies."

Elizabeth was trying to keep up. "Can Atlantis isolate the virus?"

"The city is trying. It can't contain the virus to that one room. We could have done it manually from here, but the pathogen was released two minutes ago. It's already flowing through Sector Four as we speak."

John.

"Can we seal off Sector Four?"

Rodney typed several commands and began forcefully hitting others.

"Rodney!"

"I'm checking! I'm checking!" Rodney did not do panicky very well. "I don't know any characteristics of the pathogen, but judging by the damn, blinking red lights, I'd say it's pretty harmful!"

"Come on, Rodney…" Elizabeth was tapping her foot, waiting for answers. Answers that seemed to be taking a lifetime to figure out.

"Almost there, almos—There! I got it! Yes, we can shut off the ventilation systems manually from here. Atlantis can't do it herself."

"Good. Do it."

"Done!" Radek and Rodney announced at the same time. Just a few simple commands and they were a-okay.

But John wouldn't be.

Elizabeth whirled, trying to find Ronon. He caught her gaze and walked forward. "Ronon! I need you to—"

"I know." And without even hesitating, he took off in the direction of the door.

**-----SGA-----**

Ronon ran.

Corridor after corridor, civilian after military after civilian personnel, door after door. He ran.

Ronon overheard everything about the virus from his location. Doctor Weir had just sent Teyla to tell Major Lorne to blow up the debris. But in doing so, he'd free the virus and kill his team, Teyla, and potentially the rest of Atlantis if it managed to slip through whatever McKay did to stop it.

John was likely dead. He was wounded and in the middle of a hallway the virus had access to.

SGA-6 were likely dead. They were in the room directly across from the virus.

But he could save Teyla and SGA-2.

His legs pounded on grating, on smooth floor, on stairs. Hopping into a transporter, Ronon quickly chose as close to Sector Four as he could get. He needed to be faster than this.

Teyla had a two minute head start on him, but she was out of breath from her first run. He knew though, that he did not have enough time to overtake her.

He just hoped the explosives weren't ready to blow.

**-----SGA-----**

The red lights were beginning to blur his vision. It gave a whole new meaning to the phrase "seeing red."

John blinked. The red lights had started up about a minute ago. The damn white light—which was closer to him—still shined in his eyes. The door was opening and closing. He was fed up with it all.

"Okay! Okay! I'll friggin' move!" he roared, trying to stand up so he could move. It was weird not being to hear any of that.

His goal was to move back around the intersection and closer to the debris. He realized that moving out of the way of the blast would be a good idea, so he dragged himself around the intersection. But at this position he also couldn't tell if they managed to blow any of the debris away _at all_ since he was deaf for the time being.

He stood and took a few steps forward, using the wall for leverage. But then he stopped.

_What if they're sending a message?_ McKay could be continually opening and closing the door, as well as increasing the wattage in the crystals to get his attention. Maybe he wanted John to enter the room?

And then he felt it. Atlantis was back in his head, followed by a new bout of pain. He grabbed his head, falling to his knees.

But Atlantis wasn't trying to hurt him…

_She's trying to save me._ Atlantis was the one giving him these signals. He contemplated her meaning and decided that he had to get to the room.

Crawling on all fours, he slowly made his way forward, inching toward the door. The lights dimmed considerably, allowing him to see where he was going.

Atlantis kept the door open for him.

His breath was ragged and his throat felt hoarse. No water. Blood loss. Couldn't hear. What a day.

Atlantis closed the door.

_Well, that was fun._

And then he passed out.

**-----SGA-----**

Teyla rounded the corner, her legs feeling like jelly. Never had she run so fast.

"Major Lorne!" she called out, catching his attention.

"Teyla! Wow, that was quick. That was what? Less than ten minutes?"

Teyla smiled, appreciative of his compliment, but more worried about John and Lieutenant Waldon's team. "Thank you, Major, but—" she stopped again, inhaling some more air. "But, Doctor Weir gave the order. She said to go ahead with the explosives."

Major Lorne nodded and spoke to Cadman, "Lieutenant, are the explosives ready?"

"Ready to blow, sir!" Cadman hollered back, holding the detonator.

"Alright, let's do this. Everyone, step back behind the corner!"

**-----SGA-----**

Ronon stumbled, catching himself before falling. It was difficult to try and traverse a quarter of the city in less than two minutes. Ronon knew he had already passed that mark.

He was nearly there, skidding around corners and running as fast as his feet would allow on straight-aways.

If only he wasn't so slow.

"Everyone, step back behind the corner!" That was Major Lorne's voice.

He had two turns left to go—he knew, having memorized the pathways while Weir gave out orders.

He took turn one at an angle, not intending to stop so that he could orient himself. He crashed into the wall on the other side, but that didn't deter him.

One more turn.

"Cadman, arm the detonator!"

Almost there.

Don't blow it. Don't blow it. Don't blow it.

He jumped out from behind them, yelling at all of them at once.

"DON'T BLOW IT!"

"FIRE IN THE HOLE!"

Both orders yelled out at the same time. Time seemed to stand still.

Teyla whipped her head around, staring at him.

Lorne's eyes widened in surprise at Ronon's presence.

Parrish covered his ears.

Ronon panted.

And then Cadman pressed the trigger on the detonator and smoke filled the air.


	3. Chapter 3

**I apologize for the **_**long**_** wait between updates, guys. I promise I've got tons of free time, so expect this story to be finished soon (we're looking at maybe 6 chapters, possibly more depending on demand).**

**Enjoy!**

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**-----SGA-----**

_**Five minutes earlier…**_

"Doctor Weir!"

_Quite the popular person today…_Elizabeth ran towards Chuck, trying to focus on all aspects of the current situation. An airborne virus was circulating through Sector Four. John and SGA-6 were also in Sector Four. The virus was contained, but she had just given Lorne the order to blow a wall of debris keeping the virus from escaping.

This was not a good day.

"Yes, Chuck?"

"I've been monitoring life signs," he began, pointing at the white dots that represented John and SGA-6, "And look."

Elizabeth stared at the screen and caught on to Chuck's meaning fairly quickly. The four dots indicating SGA-6 were fading. "What's happening? Is the virus affecting them?"

Chuck gave her a grave expression. "I think so. We've seen before that when parts of the body are failing—particularly the immune system—the dots tend to indicate those sorts of changes."

Elizabeth nodded. _SGA-6 is dying…_And suddenly, before she could contemplate it further, the dots disappeared.

"No…Are they…?"

"Atlantis' life signs detectors are still functional ma'am, even in that area of the city…They're gone."

Elizabeth exhaled.

That left only John.

**-----SGA-----**

_Choking…_

_CHOKING._

He coughed. Bringing his hands up to his mouth he continued to gag, dry heaving air.

Atlantis had tried to save him from something. The door was closed shut behind him.

He rolled over onto his back and stared up at the ceiling. The coughing fit subsided. His lungs hurt. Carefully draping one arm across his ribs, John crawled towards a nearby table.

His head was pounding. Five hundred drums beat in harmony in his skull, echoing over and over again with the same frequency and the same decibel.

"This sucks," he called out, checking to see if his hearing was still impaired. And still no voice met his ears.

Grabbing a metal leg, John hauled himself upwards, leaning against a chair. Finding his balance quickly now, John hoisted his body onto the metal fixture and took a look around.

The room wasn't completely bare. There were two long tables covered by white sheets, a few cabinets and an overhanging light fixture dug into the centre of the ceiling. No other doors though. The lone chair.

That was it.

Sighing, John noted the dried blood on his arms and hands. _Head wounds bleed a lot_…he thought, trying to console himself. _That's a lot of blood though_…

Lazily glancing around the room, John's eye caught something in the top corner of the room. Something that could save him. Something that could finally get him out of this situation.

He smiled.

Staring straight back at him was a security camera.

**-----SGA-----**

Teyla coughed.

Hacking up dirt and dust, she bent over and tried to expel everything she just breathed in. The explosion was abnormally loud considering the distance, but she did not question it.

"NO!"

_That was Ronon_, she registered, trying to see through the smoke. "Ronon?" she called, venturing towards his voice.

"Yeah, over here." It seemed he could hear her easily enough. Maybe it was because she was closer to the blast...

And then he came into view. "What are you doing here?" she asked, turning around to check on Major Lorne and his team.

Ronon placed his hands on her shoulders and whirled her around to face him. "We have to get out of here. Atlantis detected a virus in this sector. It's airborne. Now that the debris is gone, it will fill this entire sector and might reach the control room."

He pushed her backward, towards the center of Altantis. "Get going," he growled, pointing in the other direction.

And then Cadman's voice carried through the air.

"It didn't go all the way through!"

Ronon's eyes grew. Teyla watched him run around the corner. She raced after him, unable to leave him alone with this new information.

"What happened?" That was Major Lorne.

"Well, sir," Lieutenant Cadman replied, "I didn't use enough explosives." She blushed, embarrassed. "Sorry, sir. I misjudged the depth of the debris." Cadman cringed, noting the pieces of nearby walls scattered along the floor. "The fix-its are gonna have a field day trying to repair this mess."

Teyla swallowed, unsure if this mistake could stop the virus that Ronon was talking about.

"Major Lorne," Teyla ventured, "Ronon just informed me that there is an airborne virus in Sector Four. If we blow the wall, we will also be infected."

"What?!" Parrish yelled. "You mean we could've just killed ourselves?"

"Yes," Ronon bluntly interjected, "You could have."

Lorne was having a hard time processing all of this new information. "There's a virus? But what about the Colonel? And SGA-6? How do we get them out? And is it deadly?"

Ronon addressed him. "Don't know. Need to head back to find out."

And with that, he turned on his heels and began a brisk walk back to the control room.

"Uhh…" Lorne stuttered, unsure of how to handle this. "Let's head back, then. Cadman, gather everything up. We'll have to see what's going on."

Teyla followed suit, preparing herself for what was to come.

**-----SGA-----**

"The debris is still intact!"

Rodney cringed. It unnerved him every time Zelenka made a discovery without him.

Elizabeth continued her game of ring-around-the-rosie and made a stop at Zelenka's station. "They didn't break through?" she asked breathlessly.

Zelenka smiled back at her. "No, approximately forty-five percent of the wall still remains. Atlantis has not locked down that area, so—for the moment—it is holding."

"Finally!" Elizabeth replied, "Some good news."

"Dr. Weir!" That was Chuck.

"Yes?" Elizabeth called out, running towards him.

His look gave her tremors. He was deadly serious. "I've uploaded visual footage from the area." He pointed at the screen, his finger slightly shaking. "It's SGA-6."

Elizabeth steeled herself, expecting unmoving corpses. She was right. Lieutenant Waldon's team all laid face down on Atlantis' stark grey flooring, immobile statues in a grotesque still painting. The virus killed them within minutes.

"And John?" she asked, catching a slight nod of Chuck's head out of her peripheral vision. He pressed a button somewhere in front of her.

And there he was. Bleeding, wounded and angling his right arm over his midsection for support and to ease his injuries. And he was smiling at the camera.

Elizabeth exhaled. "He's alive!" she called out loud enough for Rodney and Zelenka to hear. "Chuck, can you move the camera? Let him know that we can see him and know where he is?"

"Yes, we have limited power, but that's doable."

"Good." Elizabeth watched as the visual swayed from side to side, following the eye of the camera. John seemed to get the message as his smile grew a little before he slumped into the table next to him. He needed medical attention as soon as possible. "How do we get him out of there?"

Rodney's voice entered her ears, her eyes still focused on John now faintly waving at the camera, "We can't flush the virus out of the area until we repair the ventilation system which has been compromised. And we can't enter the area because of the virus. So," Rodney turned his head, "Zelenka, go fix the ventilation system."

"Excuse me?!" the Czech retorted, frustrated. "You were the one who tampered with the system! You fix it!"

"I'm fixing the power conduit so there's no more explosions! Now get to work!"

Zelenka folded at that, realizing that they had two problems to overcome. Fixing the ventilation system would allow Atlantis to expel the virus into the atmosphere and render its effects useless as it traveled away. Without fixing the power conduits, however, explosions could grant the virus access to more vital parts of Atlantis and infect more people. SGA-6 was proof of the deadly effects and Radek couldn't let others succumb to the same fate.

"Fine, but you better be quick."

"Yes, yes, Road Runner quick, now get a move on."

Zelenka ran out of the control room to gather his sets of tools from his lab. By all accounts, this would be a quick fix. So long as nothing else went wrong.

**-----SGA-----**

Oh, something else had definitely went wrong.

Zelenka was standing over the ventilation system control station and things did not look good. When Rodney had altered the power flow earlier that morning, he did not anticipate the sudden surge of electricity from the city. The electrical surge had impacted both ends of the circuit—Sector Four, as evidenced by the explosions, and where it originated, the ventilation system.

Pieces lay strewn all over the floor as sparks flew from the console in front of him. Zelenka swore.

He tapped his ear piece, "Rodney."

A few seconds pause. "Yes, yes, what is it?"

"We have another problem."

"Oh, golly gee, what could it be? Please don't tell me the surge blew the ventilation console."

"Fine, I won't tell you…" Rodney didn't respond. "But that's precisely what happened."

"Damn it!" Zelenka held his ear piece away from his head, the Canadian's yell hurting his ears. "Okay, okay…it'll be fine. How bad is it?"

"Uhh…" Zelenka nudged what he thought was the button to turn on the power to the console. "Pretty bad."

"How long will it take you to fix it?"

"Rodney, I don't know, it's very—"

"Estimate!"

Zelenka exhaled, frustrated. "This will take hours, maybe days. The entire console was nearly blown apart, Rodney."

A longer pause. "Okay, here's what we'll do. I'll fix the power conduits and you do what you can. I'll come help you after I'm done here."

"Fine, fine." Zelenka stared at the wreckage before him. This was bad. Without a working ventilation system, Atlantis could not control the pathogen. Nor could the city vent the substance into the outside atmosphere.

"Might as well get to it." Zelenka sat down next to the console and plugged in his laptop. This was going to be a long day.

**-----SGA-----**

They could see him.

John's smile faded as the pain started to come back to him. _Sweet, they can see me._ He put his hand to his head. I could use some aspirin though…

He was feeling hotter than normal—probably due to the blood loss. _I thought blood loss made you feel colder?_ His thoughts were jumbled and all over the place. It was difficult to stay focused on one thing at any one moment.

_Come on guys, how would be a good time to get me outta here._

His body was very, very tired. He didn't get a good sleep the night before and now his body was battered, bruised and way too sore. Even the thought of the great round of golf he had earlier couldn't lift his spirits.

Utterly exhausted, John's eyelids drooped and his breathing slowed. A nice sleep right now would do wonders. He would wake up in the infirmary with Carson working his magic and the painkillers coursing through his veins…he hated taking the drugs, but what he wouldn't give for some of those right about now. His eyes closed and his body began to prepare for sleep. His thoughts drifted and his mind was coming to a complete stop at the finish line…

The lights grew insanely bright. Almost to the point of inducing blindness.

"Stop it!" he screamed, but the words only rattled in his head. His speech was useless.

The lights stopped. _The hell was that?_

John scooted backwards a little, falling out the chair. He jostled his ribs and curled his arm tighter around his abdomen. He moved backwards slowly, his back rubbing against the wall. If only he had a blanket, and random lights weren't blinking at him, he'd snuggle in for a nice sleep.

He noticed the red blotches and swirls traveling around his arms, some splotches on his tactical vest. The bleeding had stopped, but it was still damn near everywhere. Staring at the myriad of patterns, his eyes became transfixed as he imagined twirling loops on a rollercoaster and exotic tattoos. "Oh, what a wonderful world…" he tried to say aloud, his breath escaping him soundlessly.

The mind was a funny thing. A very funny thing. John tapped his skull. _Funny stuff, you are._ The walls were already blurry when he made his way in here, but now they were downright terrifying. The predictable crevices in them every few feet were now indistinguishable from the entire mass—and it seemed to be closing in on him. John glanced left and saw the wall moving towards him.

His head swung right and this time, a giant black blur stood in the center of his vision. _Ever see The Blob, McKay?_ he thought, watching the goopy image change shape.

He smiled goofily, tapping his skull once more with his pointy finger. _Funny stuff, indeed._

**-----SGA-----**

Another alarm sounded.

"Oh, you've got be kidding me!" Rodney shouted, tapping three different consoles at one time. How he did that with only two hands, Elizabeth couldn't even fathom.

"What's going on now?" she sighed, jogging over to the physicist. It was like a cascading waterfall of horrible news.

Rodney stopped and stared at her. "Remember how Zelenka just called and said it was going to take him a long time to fix the ventilation system?" Elizabeth nodded. "Well, it's created an even bigger problem."

She walked around to the console he was currently working on. Rodney had relieved a poor young female, _Asuka?_, from her command in the 'Gate room—"Go get me a sandwich! And no pickles!" he yelled at her—believing he could work faster. Elizabeth didn't doubt his methods. It was his tact, or lack of it, that unnerved her.

"What's the problem?" she asked, preparing herself for the worst.

"To put it bluntly, Atlantis can not only _not_ filter the pathogen from Sector Four, but it also can't filter _oxygen_ through the rooms. We can only manually seal the entire Sector, which is what we did. The fans aren't working at all. Without fans, there's no oxygen. Without oxygen—"

"John won't be able to breathe," Elizabeth gasped. He would be losing oxygen, even now. She quickly stole a look at the monitor and watched John. He was leaning up against a wall, his hand tapping on his head. He grinned, but wasn't looking at the camera. He was staring at the wall. "How long?" she asked, turning back towards Rodney.

"I'm going to say about ten minutes. With his injury, possibly less." He began rapidly tapping keys. Elizabeth couldn't keep up with his movements.

"What can we do?"

Rodney's eyes grabbed hold of her worried gaze. "I don't know." His voice sounded defeated. "I can't vent the virus. Not even manually, until Zelenka fixes the system. That will take hours, at the very least." He started hitting his Tablet with more force than necessary. "The room John is in is located almost in the center of the Sector. We can't blow a hole in the wall to get him out either. There are rooms above him, below him, and on all sides. It would take too long."

Rodney looked up again. "I don't know what to do…" he said, exasperated. Elizabeth had never seen Rodney like this before. His voice had cracked. Rodney McKay without a solution was not Rodney McKay at all.

Elizabeth took control. "Okay, so we can't get him out within the next ten—"

"Eight and a half," Rodney interrupted.

"Eight and a half," she agreed. Now was not the time to get agitated. "Can we prolong his oxygen intake somehow? Can we give him more oxygen instead of trying to get him out of there? Where is he?"

Rodney tapped another few keys. "He's in a…OH MY GOD!" Elizabeth drew back, surprised. His eyes had lit up like fireworks on the Fourth of July. _First of July_, she reminded herself. Always helped to profile her expedition members.

"What is it, Rodney?"

"He's in a room that used to be used for patients with minor injuries. This was before they moved the facility nearer to the tower where Carson's infirmary is now." His fingers scurried like terrified mice and his eyes bulged like saucers. "There has to be something in there he could use. Maybe a spare oxygen mask or something?"

Elizabeth grimaced. "I don't think we'd ever be so lucky."

"It's worth a shot. We need to communicate with him somehow." Rodney checked his watch. "Six minutes left until the room is out of oxygen."

"How? We don't have audio at all and he can't see us."

"No, we don't," Rodney said, smacking more keys. "We have something better."

**-----SGA-----**

Breathing was becoming more difficult.

The goopy black mass was trying to swallow him whole, its body moving closer, and closer, and closer.

John squeezed his eyes shut and opened them again, trying to stop the whirlwind of images from making him dizzy. The goopy mass receded, now a goopy black square. That helped…a bit.

Then John saw something he never imagined he'd ever see. The goopy black square started talking to him. With _words_. _Giant, white words._

JOHN, SEARCH THE ROOM. YOU ARE LOSING OXYGEN. FIND SOMETHING.

_Okay, that's a new one._ The goopy square stopped moving—for now—and John could briefly tell that it was some kind of video screen. Words flowed across it quickly.

HURRY. YOU ARE RUNNING OUT OF TIME.

The lights started blinking off and on again and this time, John couldn't tell if that was Atlantis or Rodney. "Okay, okay, I GET IT!" Pressing his back harder against the wall, John unsteadily rose to his feet.

_The hell am I looking for?_

He pushed forward, nearly tripping over his own feet, and grabbed one of the two tables. With further effort, he shuffled his body along, gripping the white fabric covering it. _This isn't just any table_, his mind told him, _This is an examination table. _

The giant black goopy square told him he was losing oxygen. Was there something here he could use to fix that?

The lights increased their intensity again, the piercing glow striking his eyes. _Atlantis_, he thought. The city was trying to keep him awake. The lights continued their dance, his eyes now having adjusted to their temporary illumination before flickering out, but not the deathly brightness.

"I'm moving, I'm moving!" he shouted even though he could not hear the words. He made it to a cabinet sitting next to the examination table. Hauling open the top drawer, he gazed inside. His mind warbled and his step faltered. It took every ounce of strength he had to grab hold of the table and stay upright.

There was nothing inside.

_Take two. _

He fell to his knees, gripping the sides of the cabinet as he fell. He wouldn't be able to make it to the other cabinet. The lack of oxygen running through his blood had made his body too tired, too exhausted. He was unfit to even stand up again. This would be his last shot.

The bright light shot up again, reminding him to stay awake and concentrate.

He tugged on the bottom drawer, his strength fading. His lungs started to burn. The drawer eased open.

There were several items inside. Latex gloves, he saw, a big box of them. _Carson uses those_…he couldn't focus. _Next item._ His breathing labored, short breaths coming out now. He couldn't fully inhale anymore.

A mask. An oxygen mask. It wouldn't do much good by itself, but it wasn't alone. It was attached to a small oxygen tank. _Scuba diving, anyone? _John thought, chuckling to himself before launching into a coughing fit.

When he recovered, he grabbed it quickly and put the mask on. His body, sapped of energy and strength, fell to the floor and the canister started to roll away. Were the mask not already attached to his head, it would have rolled out of reach.

_Almost there…_he gave up moving his legs. They were dead weight. Grasping the valve, he struggled to turn it, to release the precious oxygen hidden inside the canister. _Come on!_

It was slow going. It would turn slightly every time he tugged, but he couldn't breathe anymore. The mask had actually worked against him, reducing his intake of any remaining oxygen in the room. He twisted the valve again.

And again.

And again.

Just when he was about to give up, the valve gave way and fresh oxygen flowed into his mouth, winding down his throat and into his lungs. He gulped a huge breath and started coughing. The burning sensation was subsiding, but still lingered.

He looked up at the ceiling, his body a pathetic mess, twisted and spread out in all directions on the floor. The bright light stopped shining.

John tried to smile. He tapped the floor with his right hand, his left hand holding the oxygen mask to his face. _Good going, ol' girl,_ he thanked the city silently. _You knew this was here._ He patted the oxygen tank. _You knew I'd need it._

He reached down and caressed the floor as one would caress their significant other.

His mouth formed the smile.

_Love you too._

**-----SGA-----**

Elizabeth breathed a huge sigh of relief. "Oh thank God."

John had found an oxygen tank. Rodney's guess had been spot on, though the chances of an oxygen tank just happening to be in there made her skeptical. _What were the chances of that?_

Fate was certainly kind to John Sheppard.

Elizabeth wouldn't have it any other way.

"Okay, that should buy him some time. Good job, Rodney." she said. Rodney had accessed some kind of video panel embedded into the wall of the room. Now, however, it was her turn to seize Rodney's gaze. "Now what do we do?"

"I told you," he started, "There's nothing—"

"We're back!" Lorne called, rushing into the Gate room. Parrish, Simmons, Cadman, Teyla and Ronon strolled in behind him, the whole group gasping slightly from their brisk pace. "The wall wasn't fully breached by the explosives, so…"

"That's alright, we know Major," Elizabeth called back. "The topographical map told us all we need to know. We ran into some further problems, however…"

"Oh?" he queried, and bounded up the steps followed by the others.

"Colonel Sheppard has no oxygen in the room with him. He has secured an oxygen tank, but that will only buy him a few hours, maybe a few more. Rodney has told me we cannot vent the pathogen until we fix the ventilation system." Her faced hardened. "That, too, has experienced its own power surge. The resulting explosion decimated the console. Dr. Zelenka is working on it, but it won't be fixed in time."

Lorne processed the information and then looked thoughtful, a light bulb lit in his head. "What if we get a puddle jumper and—"

"No good," Rodney cut him off. He'd been doing that a lot lately, Elizabeth reflected. "The room he's in is surrounded by other rooms. We'd have to take out a significant portion of Sector Four and we'd have to do it without injuring John."

"Well, what about SGA-6? Lieutenant Waldon's team is closer to the…" Lorne's voice slowed at the questioning look from Rodney. "What? Did I miss something?"

"Major…" Elizabeth started and she knew he deduced what she was about to tell him. "The pathogen…it killed them within minutes. They had no chance." Her voice wavered, but kept its calmness and authority.

Lorne's eyes became downcast. The others grew silent, not even their breathing was noticeable. To the Major's credit, he collected himself very swiftly. "Then we need to reach the Colonel some other way."

Rodney spoke up without being prompted, "And how, exactly, do you propose we do that, Major? We can't reach him by puddle jumper, we can't dispose of the virus, the Daedalus isn't due for over a week and a half, there is _nothing_ we can do."

Elizabeth observed him. His earlier self doubt had affected him quite severely. She suspected he had tried everything he could possibly think of, but the answer just wasn't there. She suddenly felt intensely sorry for Rodney McKay, and, subsequently, for John Sheppard.

"No, really," he continued, pent up rage flying at Lorne, "Do you have some master plan here? Some concealed miracle? Are you religious Lorne? Because no one's going to magically come down from the sky and scoop Sheppard up! No one's going to waltz in there and drag him out of the room to safety! He's as good as DEAD."

Elizabeth's eyes lit up. "What did you say?"

Rodney hastily pivoted ninety degrees in her general direction, "I said Sheppard's dead. And I can't do anything to help him this time!" He threw his Tablet to the ground, a deafening crash accompanying its short flight.

"No," she began, now staring hard at the face of Evan Lorne. "You said, _'_No one's going to waltz through there and drag him out of the room.'"

Rodney deflated. "Okay, yes, I did say that—"

"The Tallinns!" Lorne practically shouted. "The phasing technology!"

"Yes," Elizabeth said. "Looks like we're going to be meeting them a lot sooner than we expected, Major."

"I'll grab my gear and get a Jumper ready." He was already on his way out of the room. "Cadman, Parrish, Simmons, let's head out."

Ronon stepped forward, Teyla not far behind him. "I'm coming too," he said gruffly, intent on not being left behind.

Elizabeth shook her head, a small smile on her lips. "I suppose I can't leave you on the wayside twice in a row, Ronon." He nodded and jogged after Major Lorne. Teyla opened her mouth to reply, "Go grab your stuff, Teyla." Her mouth shut instantly. "Let's hurry this up."

"Yes, Elizabeth." Teyla bowed slightly before running off to catch up with Ronon.

"Elizabeth—" Rodney started.

"No." She shook her head again, a hard frown replacing her good-natured smirk. "You fix the mess we have here. Fix the power conduits and help Radek with the ventilation system. We may not need the phasing technology the Tallinns have to get John out if you two are quick enough."

"But—"

"Rodney. Please, do as I ask." Her voice was tough, firm, authoritative. She needed Rodney here.

"Alright," he reluctantly agreed.

"Chuck, prepare to dial the PSX-487. We have a date with Theoron and his people."

"Yes, ma'am."

"And send for Carson." Chuck nodded and picked up his comm. to contact the doctor.

Elizabeth was all ready to go. She would put the tactical vest on in the Jumper. She did not carry a weapon; a leader carrying a weapon was seen by some cultures as an act of war or hostility. SGA-2, Ronon and Teyla would be enough to accompany her.

Theoron was an intriguing individual, one she couldn't wait to meet. Lorne had informed her that he was indifferent toward the Atlantean's war with the Wraith. Major Lorne was someone she trusted wholeheartedly when it came to getting an impression off of someone. She would formulate her own impression when she met the man, but she was sure it would be no different. She had not laid eyes on Theoron and already he reminded her of several diplomats back on Earth. The IOA, for one: uncooperative and apathetic when it came to races other than their own.

If Elizabeth was going there to negotiate for the invisibility technology, she was almost certain Theoron would refuse. In fact, she was still sure he would refuse her. But she was going to the Tallin homeworld to negotiate for something far more critical: the technology to save John Sheppard's life.

She would not come home empty handed.

She gathered her wits about her. This would be a challenge she could not shy away from, one she would refuse to back down. Checking the monitors, she watched John's unmoving form, his chest rhythmically moving up and down in small, strenuous patterns.

He would not survive long this way.

After all the times he had saved Atlantis, that he had saved _her_, she would finally get to repay some of that debt.

_Hold on, John_, she thought towards him. 

_I'm on my way._


	4. Chapter 4

_**To the reviewers:**_

_**highonscifi**_**: Nice name, btw. Appreciate the compliments and the support! It keeps me writing. I'm intent to finish this baby within the next few weeks, maybe sooner. And here's your wish! Updated soon!**

_**jaminesmommy**_**: Sheppard always does seem to get the whumpage, doesn't he?**

**-----SGA-----**

Major Lorne kept his eyes steeled as the Puddle Jumper emerged from the Stargate.

The Tallinn home world greeted them with lush fauna, shadowy mountain peaks in the distance, and a rising sun from the west. The sky was painted orange with lazy cherry-colored streaks and a touch of bright gold. Tall coniferous trees towered over the Jumper, reminding him of why they had foregone using the flying Ancient machine in the first place: a towering wall of what Lorne thought of as oak trees crowded together in front of the Stargate.

With a few calculations from a few engineers and Rodney based on their scouting data, it was determined that it would be safe to use the Puddle Jumper as long as it was flown _slowly _and _carefully_ through the Stargate. Rodney had punctuated this with an amusing tale of when the physicist had first learned to drive—something about having memorized the entire driver's manual followed by a demolished mailbox and a 'steamrolled chipmunk'—but Lorne had tuned him out to better prepare himself for the journey.

McKay's instructions drifted through his mind: "_As soon as you rematerialize on the other side, stop. Fly straight up, over the trees, and then you're home free._" Lorne followed Rodney's advice to the letter, stopping almost immediately in place, jolting several people behind him forward who decided not to strap in. He briefly heard an _oompf_ from Cadman, who had hollered at him earlier before they departed, telling him not to skimp on the gas.

As he began to ascend above the shady oaks, higher and higher into the troposphere, he called back to Cadman, "Bumpy ride, Lieutenant?"

She grunted. "Just peachy, Sir."

Accompanying him were Simmons, the newest member of SGA-2 who, when not off-world, was at Rodney's beck and call in the science labs; Parrish, who was seated next to Lorne gazing wide-eyed at the tops of the conifers, marveling at their appearance; Elizabeth, who had buckled in immediately and kept to herself; Teyla and Ronon who sat side by side, Teyla getting in a quick power bar, Ronon checking his weapons; and Cadman who was now rubbing her side at her less than graceful fall.

"Twelve minutes out, Doctor Weir!" Lorne called back, monitoring his progress with the vid-screen embedded in the windshield. He turned around briefly, checking to make sure she heard him over the chattering going on between Cadman and Simmons as he teased the Lieutenant over her fall. The doctor snapped out of her trance and caught his eyes, smiled slightly, and nodded back.

"I heard you Major," she responded. "I have a feeling this isn't going to be a quick trip."

He grimaced and returned to the vid-screen. _No doubt about that_.

Lorne's first meeting with the Tallinns went spectacularly bad. He hadn't told Elizabeth everything up front in their little briefing, but it would be detailed in the mission report.

For one, the Tallinns were a very reclusive people. As Lorne and the rest of SGA-2 had been welcomed into Talina—their most populated city, he was told—adults and children alike had scurried to the nearest shops and houses like mice, shutting their doors and peeking out of their windows. He wondered if he had wandered onto the set of a western movie and, cautiously, glanced down at his pistol, wary of the man leading them to his leader. _Surely he wouldn't walk five more paces, turn and shoot?_

He had not.

Lorne sighed in relief.

Following their unwelcome welcoming, they had entered the Great Hall of Kings, a prestigious name given to the Tallinn leader's current residence. It was a stunning structure, the exterior made entirely of what appeared to be tinted glass, not unlike what one would see in the windows of many vehicles on Earth. When they entered the hulking entrance doors made of the same material, Lorne was treated to a delicate, regal interior. Oranges and reds lined the walls, framing the ornate marble statues devoted to previous kings, along with smooth yellow flooring. He was reminded of the sun steadily climbing the horizon in front of him.

"Major?" Parrish queried, his meek eyes staring at him from the co-pilot's chair.

"Yes, Parrish?" Lorne asked, keeping his eyes focused on the vid-screen.

"Sorry," the scientist mumbled, "Just thought you were paying attention…"

Lorne had overheard the botanist talk animatedly about the growth of the shady oaks, but he chose to ignore it. He regretted not paying attention to the younger man, but he really had no interest in plants and vegetation and the life cycles of a tiny green shrub whose name Lorne had no hope of pronouncing.

"Parrish, you know how I feel about plants."

Parrish grinned. "Yeah, but it just helps to talk about it, you know."

Lorne knew. Flying a Puddle Jumper came second nature to him. Having a natural ATA gene just gave him that much more _control_ over the vessel, allowing him greater reactivity and simplifying advanced maneuvers. He used to talk about it aloud when he first started piloting for SGA-2, but they had quickly tired of his ramblings—well, all except Parrish, who just stared at the plant life. Whenever Lorne jumped in the cockpit, he allowed himself a little mental smile for this small gift and what it granted him.

He checked the vid-screen. _Another few minutes_, he reminded himself.

His thoughts drifted back to the Great Hall of Kings and their unpleasant meeting with the Tallinn leader. Theoron was a large man, complete with extra chins in case he needed a spare. His girth protruded southward and hung over the edge of his waistband by more than a few inches.

Distant memories came rushing back to Lorne. As a young boy, he recalled several instances when his mother would read him stories about kings and their castles, their mouths always fed by the best food riches could buy. This man Theoron fitted the mold of those fictional kings remarkably well, fancy robes and all.

The king's entourage consisted of four bodyguards all dressed in royal garb. The elegant fittings did not fool Lorne; Dangerous men hid beneath those garments. He could see into their eyes, the eyes of men who had killed, who would continue to kill, again and again.

A dark calm had overcome him then. He was going back to that Great Hall, back to the shiny, reflective glass that covered its skin, back to the fat king in his royal robes with the large waistband, back to the dangerous men hidden underneath their fitted garments with concealed, deadly weapons.

Lorne was suddenly thankful for Teyla and Ronon who had decided to join them on what he predicted would _not_ just be a simple diplomatic meeting between leaders. He glanced back once more and caught Elizabeth in her trance, an invisible pendulum swinging in rhythm before her eyes.

_No,_ he thought. This would be a battleground between two opposing forces, one hell-bent on getting their end of the deal and one who would refuse any possible offer short of eternal life.

The Puddle Jumper slowed to a snail's pace as Lorne thought the ship downwards. That invisible wall was ahead of them now, about a ten minute walk.

"We're here!" he hollered, though the descent of the Jumper had already alerted his passengers to his intent.

The landing was as soft as a teddy bear enveloping the soil in a warm hug. _If only they could all be like that_, he chuckled. Parrish gave him a queer look. "Soft as a feather," Lorne said.

Parrish smiled.

"Now departing Flight PJ-SGA-2," the Major called. "Please, stow your trays, keep your seatbelts on and wait until the Captain gives the 'All clear' to leave the aircraft."

He heard Cadman laugh from the back of the Jumper. "I swear, you're turning more and more into Colonel Sheppard."

Hitting the switches to cloak the Jumper and then to lower the hatch, Lorne grabbed his gear and moved to head out, joining the queue of passengers at the back of the line. "Ouch," he feigned hurt. "You wound me, Laura."

Elizabeth spoke up, "No, it's true. You've certainly come out of your shell a bit, Evan." He smirked at her. "Perhaps I should reassign you to a farther office. I certainly don't think I could handle two Colonel Sheppards."

He enjoyed these moments. Savored them. Banter was something he could keep going, something that would take their mind off the oxygen deprived and steadily dying Colonel back home. "No, I believe you," he agreed. "Atlantis definitely doesn't have the resources to save two John Sheppards simultaneously."

They shared a laugh.

As they stepped off the Puddle Jumper, it wasn't until this moment that Evan could really get a good look at Doctor Elizabeth Weir. Her eyes were unfocused, her mind in another galaxy—as if _that_ didn't sound unrealistic. They brimmed with fire, determination and knowing.

_Knowing_. That was what got him. She knew what she wanted and what she was here for. _Who_ she was here for.

Lorne wondered if it was more than friendship, more than camaraderie, more than a leader wanting one of his or her men back. He had seen that fire before. It burned in the eyes of the men and women he had served with whose relationships had gone past the stage of mere acquaintances. He could tell she was ready to do battle.

Looking at Ronon, strapping several knives to his person; Teyla, loading her weapon with a new magazine of ammunition; and Cadman, counting her explosives carefully and placing them in her pack, he could tell they were ready as well.

Mentally checking off all the things that normally accompanied Lorne's person when on a mission and ensuring they were all in their proper place, Lorne gave the go-ahead for the diplomatic mission.

"Let's head out."

He traveled behind Doctor Weir, her shoulders taut with purpose. They would not let John Sheppard down.

**-----SGA-----**

Teyla watched as Cadman led the way to the wall that could not be seen with the naked eye. She picked up on the tell-tale signs of a well-trodden path: leaves and twigs bent at odd angles, soft impressions in the dirt and moss, shrubs lining a vacant aisle on either side. This was a common scouting area for the Tallinns.

Walking in front of Elizabeth comforted her, as it was now in the hands of SGA-2, Ronon and herself to keep the expedition leader safe at all costs. This mission was unlike many others; she feared it would not end without bloodshed.

Adjusting the pack on her back, Teyla double checked her weaponry. The P-90 in her hands was a nice, light weight. A small pistol hugged her right thigh with extra ammunition clips strapped to the belt around her waist. And finally, a serrated-edged dagger lay hidden beneath the long shirt she had decided to wear today under her tactical vest, attached to a small scabbard on her left wrist. She had acquired this latest piece thanks to Ronon, who had been gifting her with quite a few new things as of late. Perhaps she would have to discuss what this meant with him later…

Ahead, Cadman held up her wrist, signaling everyone to stop. Teyla squinted her eyes, trying to see the wall that was not there. Whatever this technology was that they were searching for, it was quite good. It certainly fooled her.

The Lieutenant started to feel in front of herself, stretching her arms out in front of her and bracing for impact. Teyla was ready to ask if she needed any help, but suddenly Laura Cadman's hands hit something solid.

"Found it," she let them know. "Now, if we can only find the door…"

As if on cue, a man appeared several feet away to their right. "Over here!" he called, a nervous smile on his face. "My name is—"

"Tendo!" Simmons announced, having become fast friends with the tour guide on SGA-2's last trip here. "How are you?"

Tendo, Teyla noticed, was a timid man. He had what the 'Lanteans referred to as a 'weasel-y' appearance: a thin, protruding nose with a sunken face. His head was shaped like a pear, certainly an odd shape indeed, and his robes were a dirty, unfortunate brown. He was old, with wrinkles and long white hair. Much older than anyone on Atlantis.

His agitation was easily detectable.

"Simmons!" Tendo said, excited for the moment. Looking over the rest of the group, Tendo's face once more became nervous. "Please, come with me. Our Watchers spotted you several minutes ago as you trekked through the wilds." Tendo pointed upwards towards the sky, as if to indicate this was where the 'Watchers' were situated. "They have eyes sharp like diamonds," he said, nodding to himself, almost as if he had to convince himself to agree with his own statement.

"They are very astute," Teyla commented, wanting to learn more of these 'Watchers.' Should they need to make an escape, observers from the sky would make their plight more difficult. "They watch us from above?"

"Yes, yes," Tendo said. "They are far-seeing. The High Counsel hand-picked them for their duty. They sit high above the towers, high above the city. They watch and they watch. They use the horn to alert us of the presence of others."

So they were in a tower very high above the city. This information would be beneficial and she could almost hear Ronon, Lorne and Elizabeth file it away in their minds as well.

"Surely they do not use just a horn," Teyla continued, wary of trying to sound more inquisitive than anything else. "How would they alert you of trespassers' whereabouts? They could be anywhere outside your walls."

Tendo stopped moving. They had passed through the invisible wall now and were making their way towards Talina, the populated city. Teyla checked behind the group and noticed the invisible wall was no longer invisible. It was only transparent on the outside, not the inside. She turned back to Tendo.

His eyes judged her now, sensing caution now that a stranger was asking about the Tallinn's defenses. Should her question warrant further interrogation, she would be hard-pressed to lie about her underlying motives.

Luckily, he judged her intentions as good-natured. "The horn alerts the guides—such as myself. We have only one entrance, young warrior. The guides seek out the strangers and greet them. We are a secluded people, but we are friendly and inviting to our guests."

"And the Wraith?" Elizabeth chimed in.

Everyone else immediately was put on their guard.

Tendo gazed thoughtfully at her. "The Wraith are a special case. We have only encountered them on one particular occasion and, though they very well meant much harm to our people, we have evaded them ever since."

"And what about the other civilizations—the strangers you meet who _cannot_ evade the Wraith?" she nearly sneered. Teyla could sense her frustration, observed her clenched teeth.

"King Theoron ultimately decides our fate, He is our ruler." He further engaged the heated Doctor. "Your emotions run high and your comrades…they surround you. You are important to them." Tendo was nervous, old and very frail, but he was very observant. "May I ask your name, child?"

Elizabeth nodded ever so slightly. "My name is Doctor Elizabeth Weir, leader of the Atlantis expedition. I am here to meet your King, Theoron, to discuss a possible trade relationship," her voice clipped tersely. Teyla was worried that perhaps Elizabeth should calm down. Strong emotions could antagonize good business relationships. This was not the time to anger their hosts.

The timid man remained unfazed, his nervousness obviously a part of his everyday personality. "Well, good Doctor, please join us! I noticed your earlier party—" he nodded towards Major Lorne, "And had thought you meant to engage us in more diplomatic discussions. If it is trade you wish to have, I shall bring you to the king." His step bounced as he started along the path again.

They followed.

It took twelve minutes, maybe ten, before they reached the edge of Talina. The outer ring was made of mostly huts, small residences for the poorer people of the city. They reminded Teyla much of her own people's homes back on Athos. Oh, how she missed those days before the Wraith culling had forced her people from their planet.

"As we reach the inner circle, you will notice more upscale, lavish buildings," Tendo continued, pointing out various statues and structures of obvious Tallinn significance. Culture was very important to these people. "Here," he said, indicating a rather small building made entirely of stone colored of the same fruit the 'Lanteans called oranges and apples, "This is the Shrine to the King. Every five days each citizen must enter the shrine and devote something of sentimental value to the king. The king returns this kindness by promising wealth and happiness to the city."

Teyla had seen several pictures of buildings on Earth that both Elizabeth and Colonel Sheppard had shown her. She had been curious to learn of their culture, of how they adapted to their own world, similar to how she adapted to life on Athos. This shrine reminded her of a temple, a house of worship where followers would bestow gifts upon a higher authority. Upon a god.

Teyla was still spiritual. Devoting her time to training, relaxation and the possibility of life after death told her such. However, she was no longer religious.

After the destruction of Athos, she no longer believed in gods.

"And this…_this_," Tendo proclaimed with great stirring in his voice, "This is the Great Hall of Kings."

While the Shrine to the King was made of simple stone, it was decorated to create an appearance of a much more distinguished monument. The Great Hall of Kings needed no such decoration. It was enormous, much taller than any of the buildings they had passed before. _This is where the King lives_, she thought. _No mortal could own such a place_.

It was much larger than Atlantis, she was sure of that. She could not quite make out the substance used to create its outer shell, but it was marvelous, dazzling even. It sparkled by the light of the sun and emitted a majestic aura.

"It is very beautiful," Teyla replied.

The timid man's face grew into a beaming source of pride. "Yes," he agreed, "It is."

His face greeted Elizabeth next. "I know," he began, "That you are eager to meet the king—"

"Yes, we are on a short time frame," she conceded.

"I understand. Please, do not let me keep you much longer." Tendo's smile fell from his face. He became nervous once more. "I will go inform the king of your arrival. Just wait here a moment."

Now it was Teyla's turn to become skittish. _What could cause this man, so full of life, to become so frightened? _she asked herself, but she already knew the answer. Anytime King Theoron was mentioned, the tour guide's lively appearance would shatter and he would become fragile and scared. _He is but a shell himself_, Teyla ventured, staring at the glittering exterior of the Great Hall of Kings.

_What kind of man could cause such suffering?_

**-----SGA-----**

Elizabeth knew her feelings were overriding her rational thought. It was normal in a situation where someone you held dear to you, someone who had been with you through thick and thin, was in mortal danger. It was normal, yes, but she could not afford to gamble with John's life.

She had already lost SGA-6 and as much as she hated to admit it, they _were_ more expendable than John Sheppard. The Colonel was not just head of the military contingent on Atlantis; he was, to Elizabeth, the heart and soul of the expedition. His immaturity was utterly contagious and reminded her that, though this job was serious, was it worth losing yourself over? Losing your identity?

Overtime was not one of Elizabeth's favorite duties. She had probably clocked in more overtime than any member of the expedition, though that was no surprise to anyone else. Coming to Atlantis had taught her much. She was well-versed in Ancient scripture and lore, she had upped the ante on her diplomatic prowess, and the numerous _firsts_ she had experienced in this galaxy were nothing short of extraordinary. One of those _firsts_ was her and John's first conversation on the balcony outside the 'Gate room. It became a ritual when one of them became stressed and both were in the immediate area: head to the balcony, talk it out. Before she left for this mission, however, he was not there to 'talk it out' with her.

No, this time she was going solo.

She had to pull it together for him, for the city. John's exuberance for his job, for the mission, for the people, it helped keep the men going.

Damn it. It kept _her_ going.

Calming her nerves, Elizabeth inhaled a deep, relaxing breath and then exhaled slowly. Time to get down to business.

The looming marble doors to the Great Hall of Kings spread ajar and out walked a small welcoming party to greet them. Judging by the description Cadman had given her in the Jumper, Elizabeth was quite sure that none of these men were King Theoron. None of them wore the royal colors of orange and red; they wore only red. It washed over the men like a crimson waterfall, complete with darkened puddles at their feet as the robes pooled together due their excessive length. Tendo was with them.

"Please, come in, young travelers. The king awaits." A sweeping motion of Tendo's hands. "I, however, must bid you farewell. I wish you all well in your endeavors." And with a subtle nod, Tendo departed towards the shrine behind them with a nervous gait.

"Tendo!" Elizabeth called after him, her voice halting the procession of the king's men back into the Great Hall. He spun around and caught her gaze, a questioning look about his face. "I thank you for the tour, as well as your hospitality, on behalf of our people."

The timid man shot her a look full of praise and gratitude. It appeared it was not often that the man received compliments. "And thank you, Doctor Weir, for your appreciation and," he looked at Teyla now, "For the inquiring minds that grace your presence. The mind, it is a more than sufficient gift." He bowed.

She saw him off then and was slightly bewildered, but delighted, when the frail, timid man's nervous gait turned into one of confidence. Perhaps all he needed was someone to show him his self-worth. That this was a man who was not to be stepped upon, but one to be respected.

Bracing herself, Elizabeth smoothed down her uniform and followed the king's men into the Great Hall of Kings.

The view was breathtaking. _All that glitters is not gold_, she told herself. But it _was_ gold. The rays of the sun that managed to penetrate the outer exterior of glass shone brightly off everything in the room. The golden floor sparkled like no other and Elizabeth was quite adamant that this was the most expensive lobby she had ever seen in her entire life.

They marched onward.

The king's men led them through several large hallways, all framed the same way as the lobby. Intimidating statues towered over the group as kings from yesteryear stared them down, daring them to press their luck in this extravagant golden land. The royal colors showered the walls and Elizabeth was fairly sure her eyes were about to start swimming around in the sea of orange, red and yellow.

Suddenly, the procession halted in front of a massive set of double doors. The handles sparkled that magnificent golden hue and one of the men motioned for her to open them. Placing her hands upon them made her feel small and insignificant as the handles dwarfed her by nearly three times in size. She pressed forward.

The doors opened soundlessly and it was inside this room that Elizabeth spotted him for the first time.

King Theoron left nothing to the imagination. He sat atop a throne fit for three kings, its base made of solid gold. In his hand he held a golden chalice and upon his lap set a scepter with a shining ruby stone inside. Elizabeth envisioned that if the man upon the throne touched that stone it would miraculously turn to gold. He was a regular King Midas, she was sure. Expensive taste to suit his vast wealth.

Amusingly, Elizabeth noted there was no throne for a queen. A culture averse to women could make this proceeding much more difficult than it had to be.

The room was enormous. The ceiling had to be at the very least twenty feet high above their heads, a wondrous sky dome built to inherit the sunlight. On this lovely morning the rays filtered in unabashedly, striking any surface they could find and making it shine violently, including the golden floors. Sixteen pillars struck the ground from the ceiling intermittently throughout the room, their marble design a sight to behold.

"Humble guests! I, King Theoron of the Tallinns, welcome you to Talina!" He raised the chalice to his mouth and drank greedily. Liquid spilled from the cup to his numerous chins, pooling on his prestigious robes. The king made a thirst quenching noise and started up again, "Please, come join me." He patted the arm of his chair, signaling them to step forward to the center of the room.

He then spotted Major Lorne and his good mood soured. "Why, Major Lorne, you have returned!" He now ran his eyes over Ronon. "And with company…Is something the matter?"

Before giving Lorne the chance to reply, Elizabeth spoke up. She had to inform this man that she was the one he should be worried about here. "King Theoron, a pleasure to meet you," she began, trying to butter up the already butter-filled man. "My name is Doctor Elizabeth Weir, leader of the Atlanteans. I sent Major Lorne here," she nodded towards the man, "To scout this world to see if any existing civilizations resided here. It was then that he and his team discovered your people."

The king's gaze was drawn away from the hulking, knife-wielding Runner behind her. His foul mood did not alter. "Please. A woman? Since when has any culture placed a woman in a position of leadership?"

Elizabeth felt more than saw Ronon, Lorne and Teyla place their hands upon their weapons. "A woman I may be," she said as she took several steps towards the throne, throwing an arm behind her to stop the others from moving, "But I have led an expedition from another galaxy to this one in the hopes of meeting new races and bolstering our relationships with existing ones, should we cross them." The king huffed. "I have brokered alliances, treaties and even dealt with warfare among many races in this galaxy, _including_ the Wraith." His ears perked up and his eyes widened. "I originally came here to request your aid in defeating this enemy, but I now come here with a more dire request."

"Woman," Theoron threatened, "Stop your blubbering. I have dealt with your kind once before. The last _woman_," he said snidely, "Who tried to negotiate a dealing with me was a Wraith Queen." Elizabeth stiffened. "So, you see, you must forgive me if I do not feel inclined to permit your request." He smiled, satisfied that everything was done here.

Elizabeth was not having it.

He was trying to suppress her, trying to stifle her dignity, her pride. She saw what this man did to Tendo. She saw what he could do to _her_. His words were not careless, they were precisely diminutive. Their power came from belittling their target.

Elizabeth was not new to the realm of these types of meetings. They required skill, tact, and most of all, wit. Theoron surely had extensive training in this area, an area where Elizabeth herself was also no slouch.

She had powerful words of her own.

"I may be no Wraith Queen, Theoron!" she roared, the giant hall echoing her words, "No, most assuredly, I can tell you that much." She grinned a maniacal grin to throw the king off his guard.

"I am much, much worse."

"She-devil!" Theoron cried, grabbing his scepter and holding it out in front of him as if to ward her off. "You witch," he hissed, "You are in league with the Wraith!"

As if by his command, sixteen men dressed in similar robes to his own jumped out from behind the sixteen pillars in the room, a man for every column. They all carried swords or bows with arrows drawn and trained on the small party of seven in the center of the room.

"Wait!" Elizabeth commanded, her voice narrowly stopping Ronon from blowing one of the men's heads clear off. "Theoron," she tried again, "I am not aligned with the Wraith. You must understand my purpose in coming here."

"I know your purpose, witch." The staff shook with fear, the ruby rattling in its precarious position. "You wish to destroy this place and cull my people for your food!"

"No," she reasoned. "I am here because a man back on our world is on the brink of death. You have technology that can save this man, technology I need." She paused to let him absorb this information, his trembling less pronounced now.

"Originally, I came here to negotiate a deal for your phasing technology, the kind that lets you walk through walls." His trembling slowed to a stop. "But now, I have a more pressing need for it. This man is…"

She stalled for a second. In this one second, several things occurred to Elizabeth. This man was no king, he was but a man. He had trembled at the mere _mention_ of the Wraith. No wonder he had refused to have any dealings with Lorne after the Major had explained their reasoning for wanting the technology. The Wraith terrified this man.

Another thought was that Theoron now believed he had the upper hand. His shaking had stopped altogether now. He knew she was not aligned with the Wraith. He knew she wanted technology only _he_ had ownership of. He knew and he was going to milk it for all it was worth. This simple meeting had now turned into a game of superiority for this imbecile and he intended to reap the glory of it.

But she also knew this man had a weakness. He was weak when it came to women. Elizabeth had seen no women in the city on her way in. She could tell from Tendo's kind disposition towards Teyla that women were not unheard of; they were merely suppressed, hidden from foreigners' eyes. Teyla and Ronon were skilled observers of their surroundings, but Elizabeth was skilled at observing people.

Theoron belittled men like Tendo, so there was no doubt in her mind as to how he would treat a woman. Her standing up to him like this must have absolutely terrified him.

But he would refuse her the technology, of that she was sure.

She had already decided on her new tactic. She would have to submit to this man. Her will had to admit defeat in order to save John Sheppard. As much as it pained her, as much it destroyed her inside to give this paltry fool this simple victory, she would come out the victor in the end.

"This man is," she started once more, "The true leader of our people."

Not only did Theoron's eyes nearly bulge out of his head, she heard gasps from Cadman, Teyla and the scientists behind her. She stood her ground.

"This man, John Sheppard, has defeated the Wraith on countless occasions. Wraith ships have fallen at his feet, Wraith Queens could not conquer him and I…I am his…" she had to choke out the next few words, "I am his toy."

The tension in the room had grown palpable. She did not want to turn around and see the looks on the members of her team.

She rattled on now, while she still had the king's undivided attention. "I am here to rescue him! He is trapped within a room surrounded by toxic gas. We have no other way of reaching him," she pleaded, falling onto her knees for dramatic effect. She held her hands up to the king, now mere feet from his throne. "Please, we need your help."

The king was thunderstruck. He tried to compose himself and mull over his thoughts, but she could tell her act had affected him more deeply than he would admit. It was his eyes that gave him away. Confused orbs drowned in their cerulean seas. He would grant her this wish.

The scepter rose in his hand, an invitation for pain or for fulfillment, she did not know. "Rise, young one." Elizabeth rose. "I understand your earlier anger, your passion." He attempted to appear thoughtful. "This man…this John Sheppard…he is a great man to your people?"

"Yes, very much so."

He silenced her with a quick smack to the head. "Do not speak unless spoken to!" The question vocalized itself again, "He is a great man to your people?"

This time Elizabeth heard Major Lorne's reply, "Yes, he is the greatest."

Teyla chimed in, "We have temples devoted to him, great King. He serves our people well."

That seemed to appease the fat oaf. "This news…it is most pleasing…" His voice trailed off, leaving that thread dangling. "I have come to a decision. Major Lorne and this pitiful thing—" he pointed to Elizabeth, "Will accompany me to the Crystalis. The rest can wait here."

He motioned with the scepter that she was to follow him. Lorne sidled up alongside her and they trailed behind the king as he stood from his throne and walked behind it. A door blended into the wall suddenly opened as the king tapped his scepter on a particular stone and five of them stepped through: Theoron, Lorne, Elizabeth and two of Theoron's men tagging along behind them, bows at the ready.

Several feet down the small hallway behind the throne room, they made it to another set of large double doors, less extravagant than the others. Theoron threw them open and stepped inside, gesturing them to enter.

Inside was a colossal crystal, one that shone brighter than the greatest light Elizabeth had ever seen. It stood in the center of a circular room, elevated by chains that criss-crossed across its still form. Deep below the crystal lay a pit of darkness. Mechanical devices chipped at the crystal, pieces falling off of it in slow, flaky shards.

Elizabeth noted that there was a wall behind the crystal made entirely of wood. This wall was filled with many, many drawers. She suspected that this was her intended target all along.

"I will grant you one brace," Theoron said, stepping over to a drawer marked '078.' "Because your leader is so esteemed and held in such high regard, he is a man worth saving," the king clarified, looking at Lorne who held a confused look about his face. "That is why I am giving you the brace."

It was then Elizabeth discovered the real significance of the scepter. Not merely for show, it was a key. Theoron lifted the scepter and aimed the bottom of it towards a hole directly below the '078' label. Its warps and grooves fit perfectly and, with one fluid motion, he turned the scepter, unlocked the drawer and threw it open.

The contents of the drawer contained a small bracelet with three small, glowing crystals and a mechanized switch. He handed the bracelet to Lorne and imitated how to put the bracelet on. Lorne gave the device the once-over before making a decision on whether or not to use it on himself.

"Simply press the button on the device and it will give you the ability to pass through solid objects!" Theoron announced giddily, as if this was a toy he had just discovered and not a device that could achieve victory in a war against the Wraith. "There are three crystals on there, so you can use the device three times." He turned his back to them, closed the drawer and pressed his scepter back into the hole to lock it. "After three uses, it becomes useless."

Elizabeth was quick to obtain the device from Lorne with the king's back turned. She had come this far to obtain it, she did not intend to lose this opportunity now. Lorne would be capable of using it, she was sure, but this was her battle too. She had lost much from this encounter with this man. She would regain that strength by seeing this through.

Strapping the bracelet on, she felt a jolt of pain in her wrist. The bracelet embedded itself into her arm, the locking of the two ends inducing an intense tightening around her wrist.

Theoron finished locking the drawer and whirled around at her small cry of pain. "NO!" he shouted, his voice perfectly matching that usual terrified tone of his. "You stupid, stupid whore!" The guards behind her and Lorne readied their bows, arrows aligned with each of their bodies.

"You cannot take the bracelet off once it has attached itself!" He pointed the scepter at her, "You fooled me, witch. No woman has the right to wear the brace! NO WOMAN!" He moved to strike her, but Lorne grabbed the edge of the scepter. "Major Lorne, I granted her access to this room out of pity, but I'm afraid that her presence has come at a cost. I cannot, and will not, allow you to leave this room."

The guards pulled their arrows taut.

"This treachery warrants death. Goodbye, Major Lorne."


	5. Chapter 5

_**To the reviewers:**_

_**Linda Gagne: **_**Appreciate the review. And Atlantis sure does love her favorite ATA gene carrier.**

_**jodz92**_**: Who doesn't love the Shep whump!**

_**jaminesmommy**_**: We'll see, we'll see…**

**-----SGA-----**

Lorne had no hope of evading the piercing arrows of Theoron's bodyguards. They were quick, faster than he could have possibly moved. They soared through the air towards him and Elizabeth, their deadly speed creating a slight _whoosh_ in the air.

One of Lorne's hands held Theoron's scepter, preventing the king from assaulting Elizabeth with it. His other hand clutched Elizabeth's shoulder, trying to push her out of the way of the arrow's path.

He could not push her out of the way in time.

Lorne felt one of the arrows pierce his gut, the feeling not unlike being burned alive. The agony of the impact was sudden and swift, the metal passing through his flesh with ease. It was like a hot knife cutting through butter, the plate it sat upon, the table below it and then some.

His mind registered two things: pain and the fact that the second arrow had sliced through Elizabeth's abdomen. As it struck her he caught her expression, a mixture of shock, confusion and hurt. It pained him to see her like this. He was supposed to protect her and he couldn't even protect himself.

And then the pain suddenly ceased.

Gasping for breath, Lorne sank to his knees followed immediately by Elizabeth. He struggled for air, gulping as much as he could. "What…the hell…was that?" he managed to croak out between breaths, trying to regain his footing before the guards could launch another volley of arrows.

"I…" she coughed, "I-I used…the bracelet…"

A light bulb set off in his head. She had phased them through the arrows. The bracelet must have merely distorted the area where their bodies _should_ have been, causing immeasurable pain.

He could distinctly hear Theoron drawing ragged breaths beside them, having gone through the same ordeal. Lorne had been holding the scepter, which would have phased Theoron as well.

Struggling to stand, Lorne fell to his knees once more, the effort too much for his body to handle. The guards would have finished reloading their bows by now.

"Screw it," he said aloud, and aimed his P-90 in the vicinity where he thought the guards were standing. His mind was swirling in indeterminable spirals, so he fired blindly. The loud echo of bullets ricocheting off walls and discharging from his weapon was deafening. He was promptly rewarded by the sound of two bodies hitting the floor, one after the other.

The others would be alerted by the raucous he just made.

Pivoting in one fluid motion, Lorne trained his weapon on the king.

"W-wait! Don't shoot!" Theoron yelled, his hands thrown up to shield his body. "Y-You are free to leave! Please!"

This man had ordered their deaths and, if Elizabeth had not managed to activate the bracelet in time, would have killed not only him, but also the leader of their entire expedition. With guards trained on SGA-2, Ronon and Teyla, Theoron likely would have murdered them as well. "No," Lorne said, aiming between the king's eyes. "You shoot my peoples' leader, I shoot yours." His trigger finger itched.

"No! Major! Hold your fire!"

He glanced to his left, Elizabeth staring him in the face.

"They would have heard the shots. If Theoron doesn't emerge from this room, we'll have the whole damn city after us."

He heard an exhale of relief. Theoron was certainly pleased with this turn of events.

"Yes, Major Lorne, the woman is correct." He noticed the cross look on Elizabeth's face, quickly replaced by one of intense thought. "You kill me, you won't make it out of here alive. None of you will."

"Apparently," Lorne began, "We weren't going to _anyway_." Theoron grimaced.

"To be fair," Elizabeth interrupted, "He did give us the tool to survive the attack." She grinned slowly, holding her wrist vertically to show him as one of the three crystals faded to black, fully spent. "Now, let's head back to Atlantis."

As she stood, she gestured to Theoron. "We should bring him with us." She looked at the king. "Tell your guards to stand down when we enter the throne room."

Theoron gasped with shock and disbelief. "Insolent woman, you have already worn out any welcome your people derserved! Do not order me around!"

Lorne pressed the tip of his P-90 against Theoron's temple. "Do as she says."

"O-Okay, okay! I'll do it!" the fat man shouted, his waist jiggling as his arms flailed in the air.

Lorne smiled. This 'king' was nothing but a mere coward.

He motioned forward with his gun. "Move," he commanded, forcing Theoron to walk ahead of him and Elizabeth. This was the same order they had initially walked into the room, but now the power belonged to a different pair trailing the king.

Glancing sideways, Lorne whispered to Elizabeth, "Ma'am, we have to get past the bodyguards and make it back to the Puddle Jumper. It won't be easy."

Elizabeth nodded. "Perhaps we can just coerce Theoron into letting us leave?"

He shot her a look.

She sighed. "Perhaps not."

"Nope." Lorne agreed, shaking his head. His eyes followed Theoron's slow, deliberate movements towards the throne room. Lorne could tell, he could just _tell_ that this man would make their intentions known to the entire room as soon as they stepped foot inside. This man was a coward. He was frail. Fragile. Afraid.

This was a man who would not fight when the odds were against him, but would get others to do his bidding. Lorne hated him. Hated him for his pathetic need for approval, for his lust for power, for his lack of caring about his own people.

This man was a fool.

But he was a fool that had the means to kill them all.

As they approached the door, Lorne knew this room would soon reek of burned corpses and bullet-riddled bodies. It would smell of burnt flesh and fresh crimson would stain the golden floors.

In order to escape this city, lives would be lost.

**-----SGA----**

When Lorne and Elizabeth had left the room, Ronon knew things would get ugly.

They left them in a standoff. Fourteen guards with swords, bows and arrows surrounded them. Teyla and Cadman had their fingers itching on the triggers of their P-90s. Parrish and Simmons merely looked sullen and very, very concerned, while Ronon set his own gun off of 'Stun.'

Fourteen versus three.

He'd faced worse odds.

Cadman covered their flank, while Teyla held the right. Ronon aimed his weapon in the general vicinity of three guards to his left. Should anyone start shooting, he'd be ready.

All the guards, Cadman, Teyla and himself had their weapons slightly lowered, directed at the floor. A gun aimed at someone's body or face was enough cause for provocation. This way, everyone would be quick to react should someone initiate anything.

They had been standing there approximately twenty minutes when a roar of gunshots burst through the open door behind the throne room. Eyes flickered towards the darkness that lay there and Ronon could hear Cadman's feet shuffling, wanting to turn around to see what was going on, but not wanting to draw her eyes away from her targets. The scientists stood between the three, pensive looks on their faces.

Simmons extracted a life signs detector from his belt. "Five of them entered the room. There's only three there now." He looked up at Ronon with a face full of fear.

"Wait to make sure," he said, intent on keeping the peace until they absolutely could not. If Lorne and Elizabeth did not emerge from that room, there would be hell to pay.

"They're coming out."

Ronon let his eyes travel slowly towards the door.

Theoron entered first, his obese body shuffling forward small steps at a time. _As if a gun was trained on him_. Ronon had seen the expression many times before, both on his own people and their enemies. Lorne would not be far behind him.

Sure enough, Lorne and Elizabeth emerged after Theoron. Catching Lorne's eyes, Ronon tried to gauge the situation. The Major's eyes grew stern and knowing, and suddenly his head tilted ever so sharply, but ever so slightly, in the direction of Theoron.

That was all he needed to know.

The king began to shout. "Kill them all! Kill them or—"

"FIRE!" Ronon interrupted, raising his gun and firing three times before any of the archers on his side could even lift their arrows. They collapsed in a heap.

That left eleven.

He hadn't given much advance warning to Cadman or Teyla, neither of them returning fire for at least a few seconds after he commanded they shoot. An arrow skewered one of his dreadlocks from behind, a lock of hair smacking into the floor.

The hall was huge and a good deal of the guards immediately jumped back into their hiding positions behind the pillars.

Parrish was at his back, peering out every now and then to view the battle. Ronon tried to keep the inquisitive, yet frightened scientist hidden by moving in front of him. "Teyla!" he yelled.

"Three down!" she shouted, crouching low and keeping Simmons behind her.

"Cadman!"

"I got two of 'em," the Lieutenant said, her voice tinged with a bit of disappointment.

"Keep your eyes open," Ronon called, "Six more out there."

They were stuck in the open with no cover. The empty hall stretched on for a fair bit and the pillars were daunting, spaced several feet apart from one another.

He tried signaling to Lorne for help, but the Major kept his P-90 trained on Theoron and moved to keep Elizabeth out of harm's way. They had taken refuge behind the massive throne. The guards obviously didn't care about protecting their king, more worried about a more imminent threat.

Ronon didn't wish to go searching for the guards behind the pillars, as it would leave the scientists exposed to attack. But one of them had to go search or they'd be here forever.

"I'm going to push forward. Cadman, stay on the flank. Teyla—"

"I know," she replied, moving into position to cover both scientists from the right side of the hall. Ronon smirked. _One mind._

He moved forward carefully, his vision completely focused on the left side of pillars. When the shooting began, he saw one of the guards move behind a pillar two columns ahead. He'd be open to attack from any guards behind him, but he knew Cadman was watching.

The gun did not waver in his hand, years of practice instilled into moments just like this one. Ronon tilted his head just a bit, listening for any errant sounds. He heard Cadman reloading her P-90, Teyla's boot scraping the floor as she swept the right side, Theoron's scepter whacking the floor as it fell from his hands.

The guards were quiet.

Ronon could be quiet, too.

But the guards knew they would split up and that one of them would come looking. As soon as Ronon rounded the corner and saw his target, the other five guards moved as one and surrounded Cadman, Teyla and the scientists. Ronon took him out and whirled on the others.

Cadman was ready for the swordsman behind a pillar close to her, but not the archer on the other side of the room. As she gunned down the first guard, the second launched an arrow directly through her left shoulder, blood raining down on Parrish.

"Dammit!" she shouted, pulling her P-90 around and silencing the bowman. "Fuck you." She moved back into formation to guard Parrish.

Three swordsman swarmed Teyla at once and Ronon could not risk a shot without hitting her or one of the scientists from across the hall. He was content enough, however, that she could hold her own with her ranged weapon.

_Click._

That was, until her gun jammed.

The first swordsman yelled and charged her, his blade almost as long as Theoron's scepter, which nearly reached the top of the throne when standing up straight. He swung hard, aiming to cut Teyla in half, the blade sharp and dangerous.

She jumped backwards, nearly crashing into Simmons, who she pushed back and out of her way. Ronon saw she didn't have time to reach for her handgun, so he ran to meet her. These were the final three guards. Cadman was still watching their flank.

"Cadman, there's no one else! They're all after Teyla!"

The Lieutenant whirled around and joined the foray. She mowed down one of the swordsman, but had to reload. That was all the guards needed.

The first swordsman continued trying to slice at Teyla. Even though his blade was long, he could swing it fast. It made soft rushing noises as it slashed through the air, growing closer and closer to Teyla's body. She couldn't even get close to him.

And while Ronon was most definitely a fast runner, he would not reach her in time. Parrish and Simmons were in his way now and he jostled them around, pushing them behind his body. "MOVE!"

As Cadman reloaded, the second swordsman swung at Teyla. This guard was not as fast as the first, but his swing was hard. The blade came crashing down towards her and time stood still as Ronon saw her raise her hand in defiance, sacrificing her arm to take the blow.

_Clang_.

But the blade struck metal. Ronon's eyes grew wide as the sword struck Teyla's arm and literally _bounced_ off. _What the fu—_

"Got it!" Cadman bellowed and fired with an ease of precision at the remaining guards. Their bodies dropped like rocks.

Teyla's face was matted with sweat and her chest heaved, but she smiled.

Ronon sidled up alongside her. "How the hell did you do that?"

He grasped her wrist and inspected the damage. The swordsman had struck metal alright: the dagger he had given Teyla after teaching her how to fight with knives. His heart swelled with a touch of pride, having indirectly led to her safety.

"Thank you," she replied, warmly greeting him. He continued to gaze at her wrist and then grew awkward after several seconds had passed.

"Uh…" he said, causing her smile to morph into a knowing grin. "We should get out of here."

"That all of them?" Major Lorne called from behind the throne.

Ronon answered. "All clear."

"Thank God," the Major hauled Theoron up by his robes. "Let's get the hell out of here."

**-----SGA-----**

_John was dying._

"We have to hurry," Elizabeth said, glancing down at her watch. _Three hours._ If John's oxygen tank had not yet run out, it would soon.

"We can't bring him with us," Ronon said, pointing to Theoron.

The group remained in the throne room, deciding their best plan of action to make it back to the Stargate. They all knew Theoron would inform all guards outside of what had occurred and have them secure the 'Gate.

"We can tie him up and leave him here," Cadman suggested menacingly, Teyla applying a bandage to the Lieutenant's shoulder. "I mean, I'd do much worse, but I'm not in charge here."

Lorne sighed and flicked his eyes in Elizabeth's direction. "Ma'am, what would you have us do with him?"

All eyes turned to her.

"H-Hey! You can't let her decide!" Theoron exclaimed, his bubbly face turning bright red. "She's nothing! You hear me? NOTHI—" He didn't even feel the punch that knocked him unconscious.

Ronon nursed his knuckles, a slight grunt heard above the noise of the king's body crashing to the floor.

"Thank you, Ronon," Elizabeth said. He nodded.

She spoke aloud, "We should just leave him here. It's obvious we've wounded his pride enough, especially from a culture with a woman in charge." She towered over the unmoving mass of the king. "He's afraid of the Wraith. That is why they built this hidden city and used the technology in this manner. They are isolated and afraid." She then glanced at each member of the expedition in turn. "Now, he's afraid of the Atlanteans. I highly doubt he'll want to bother us anytime soon."

Lorne smiled at her.

"Now, Major, what's the best way out of here?"

"Well ma'am," Lorne started, "I assume we'll have to retrace our steps from the way we came in. The Tallinns won't know what happened here until the king wakes up." He motioned towards Theoron with his head, "Ronon?"

"On it," the hulking Satedan replied, pulling a coil of rope from one of the packs the scientists had brought with them. He set to work on tying and gagging the king.

"We must tread carefully," Teyla said, finishing up on Cadman's shoulder. "The guards outside this door will wonder what happened. They may investigate the room."

"She's right," Elizabeth agreed. "If we leave this room without Theoron's approval, the guards will stop us. And if we let him regain consciousness, he will not help us escape."

Parrish, who had begun to inspect the large hall, spoke up, "There's a skylight." He pointed upward as the sun's harsh rays continued to fill the room with light.

"And that helps us how, exactly?" Cadman asked, her expression the very definition of skeptical.

"I don't know…" he muttered. "Just throwing things out there…" Parrish continued inspecting the walls of the room, while Simmons checked the life signs detector to confirm that, yes, there were indeed a small army of guards just outside the intimidating double doors through which they originally came.

"We do have a way to get us out of here…" Lorne said, glancing towards Elizabeth. "It saved us once already, why not again?"

Elizabeth held up her wrist, two crystals sparkling solidly in the base of the bracelet. She did not wish to use the remaining crystals. With two attempts left, she could use one to reach John and the other to retrieve him.

"No," she said forcefully. "If we use one now, we won't be able to remove Colonel Sheppard from Sector Four." She stared hard at Lorne's face. "He's dying, Major. He doesn't have much time."

Lorne swallowed noticeably. "Yes, ma'am. But if we don't get out of here and back to the 'Gate soon, it won't matter. It'll have all been for nothing."

"There has to be another way. I don't wish to risk the lives of everyone here, but this is why we came on this mission: to find a way to save Colonel Sheppard and—" An idea suddenly sprang to mind. "The scepter!"

Lorne's eyes lit up. "We can unlock more bracelets in that room!" They ran towards the throne where Theoron's scepter lay, the ruby having now dimmed to a dull sparkle. Lorne picked it up and inspected the sudden lack of light shining from the crimson stone.

"It's broken," Elizabeth said, exasperation seeping from her words. She pointed to a few bullet holes that clipped off several pieces of the scepter. "Damn it."

"We're back to square one," Lorne said, dropping the stick to the ground. He stared at Elizabeth, intent on following her decision, hoping she made the right one. Without the bracelet, they would be stuck here. She knew that.

Elizabeth's shoulders sagged, defeated.

"I've got something!"

"Parrish?" Lorne spun around.

The botanist had scoured the walls for clues, any possible way to get them out of the hall undetected. He motioned towards a mass of green on the golden floor, hidden behind a far pillar near the corner of the room.

"Look!" he pointed excitedly, "See these small orange flowers?" Parrish pointed out several small, flat, orange stems that struck out of the tiny green blob. "They're reminiscent of taraxacum officinale back on Earth!" He stood and gestured towards the flowers with unrestrained enthusiasm. "This is amazing!"

Lorne stepped forward, a frown on his face. "You know Parrish, when you said you found something I assumed it might've been, oh, you know, _a way out of here_?"

The botanist rolled his eyes. "Of course! Look, these flowers have similar characteristics to taraxacum offici—"

"Parrish," Lorne warned.

"Right, right, sorry. The flowers are similar to dandelions. Their height, their stems, even their florets have the same characteristics."

Lorne coughed.

"_My point being, Major_, that these flowers are _weeds_. They would only grow in this room if they had direct access to it. Considering the long walk here from the front entrance, the seeds wouldn't survive the trek."

Teyla was the first to pick up on Parrish's train of thought. She plucked one of the orange flowers and twirled it in her hand. "Are you implying that these flowers entered the room from some other entrance?"

"Yes! Exactly! If the seeds are dispersed the same way as regular dandelions, they would essentially fly right into the room. Since the skylight is blocked by whatever glass is up there," Parrish pointed at the odd material the dome above their heads was made out of, "The seeds would have to enter some other way."

"Another entranceway?" Simmons inquired. He checked the life signs detector. "I'm not getting any life signs other than the guards outside the doors."

"There are no windows," Elizabeth commented. "And the door behind the throne room leads to an enclosed area with a giant crystal inside."

Ronon joined the conversation. "Then it's hidden."

"Like the invisible wall guarding the city," Teyla agreed. Pocketing the small flower, she recalled their earlier expedition to Talina. "Tendo managed to find the door easily enough. He opened it as if it had a handle."

"That settles it then," Lorne said. "Search the walls around this area. Feel around for a handle of some sort."

The group started checking the walls, their hands roaming over the pristine architecture. After a few minutes, Ronon struck gold. "Got something." He grasped an invisible door handle and gave it a twist. It turned.

Hauling on the handle, a select portion gave and tore away from the rest of the wall. Light shone into the hall from the outside.

"It's a courtyard," Parrish said, stepping into the light. His eyes grew as wide as saucers as he noticed several rare and never-before-seen species of vegetation. Turning around, he looked like a lost puppy.

"No." Lorne was adamant about getting out of here immediately.

"Fine, fine." The botanist kicked the ground sadly with his boots.

"We still need a way out of here," Elizabeth said.

"Over here!" Simmons shouted, running forward through the plant life.

"No!" Parrish exclaimed and then clamped his hands over his mouth as if he'd swallowed something dangerous. "Sorry, I didn't mean to yell…It's just…the plants!"

Now it was Lorne's turn to roll his eyes. "They'll be fine Parrish, I'm sure." He called ahead, "Simmons, slow down! Where're you headed?"

The scientist came to a halt in front of another extravagant door that obviously led into the courtyard from the opposite side. He held up the life signs detector. "I've been monitoring the guards' positions. They've been making rounds down this hallway, which connects to the one in front of the throne room. If we go through here, we can slip past them and walk out the front door!" He smiled a toothy grin.

Lorne clapped him on the shoulder. "Looks like everyone's coming in handy today!" Motioning with his shoulder, he gave the others the go-ahead. "Let's head on out."

Elizabeth kept to the rear of the group with only Teyla and Ronon behind her. Cadman still held her P-90, determined to not be excluded from anymore firefights even though her arm was bandaged and now in a sling. Lorne took point with Simmons guiding him, while Parrish just looked depressed at having missed an opportunity to catalogue new plants.

_We're coming John…Hang on._

The towering statues in the hallways were glaring at her again as if to say _We know what you did, _woman_. You will not leave here alive._ Their faces were hard and menacing, contrasting with the marvelous shine they projected.

Theoron's vile taunts were getting to her.

It wasn't long before the group made it to the glorious lobby of the Great Hall of Kings. Having backtracked through the castle was simple. Backtracking through the city of Talina would not be quite so easy.

"Stick to the shaded areas," Lorne advised, motioning them to the entrance.

No sooner had the words left the Major's mouth when the massive double doors swung open and an armada larger than the group outside the throne room began to pile in. "Simmons! What the hell happened?!"

"I don't…I don't know!" he stammered, checking the life signs device. "It's not picking up anyone outside the castle! Whatever material the roof is made of…the glass! It's blocking the signal on the life signs detector!"

The guards at the front of the group pulled their bows and reached to the quivers on their backs to retrieve the first volley of arrows.

"We need to get out of here!" Lorne shouted. "Go back!"

"Problem with that!" Ronon yelled from the back of the group.

"No!" Simmons said, scanning for life signs. "The other group is behind us now! We're trapped!"

The guards continued to pile into the colossal lobby, the room created to house an army of limited size. Lorne and Cadman held their P-90s at the ready, Teyla and Ronon following suit on their flank. If even one arrow flew, they would open fire.

"We have a standoff," Lorne said. _Déjà vu_, he thought, as the guards pulled their arrows taught once more. This time, however, there was _way_ more than two guards to contend with.

His trigger finger itched. Sparing a glance in Cadman's direction, Lorne saw her sweating profusely. He hadn't picked up on that on the walk here. The wound was affecting her much more than she let on, but he saw the P-90 in her hands and its solid position. It did not waver.

_That's my girl._ Lorne smiled, ready for battle.

Elizabeth was the first to hear the voice amidst the piling of men into the room. _Over here! _It sounded like a fleeting thought in her head, one she couldn't seem to place. It was very familiar.

"Here! Over here!" And then she saw him.

Tendo the tour guide was waving towards her, hidden behind an invisible door, motioning in the direction of the closest wall. "Hurry! Quickly now!"

She knew they'd have to be discreet. Men continued to rush into the room from both sides, drawing arrows and swords alike. Any sudden movement and Elizabeth knew—though they'd put up a hell of a fight—they wouldn't be able to last very long.

"Lorne," she whispered. The lobby echoed back to her, even with the noise level as high as it was. The Major didn't move, but she could tell he was listening. "Tendo is to your right. Ronon, Teyla, to your left. There's a doorway there." It was evident they were all listening to her now. "We need to make some sort of distraction."

Elizabeth saw Cadman smile deviously.

"Distraction, you say?" the Lieutenant whispered back. "I can do distraction."

"Careful," Lorne said.

"Yes, Papa Bear." Moving slowly so the guards could see her every movement, Cadman removed the backpack from her wounded shoulder. They eyed her perceptively.

"We mean you no harm!" she said and Lorne rolled his eyes for the second time in less than an hour. "Really, look! We even have offerings for you! Please," she begged now, her voice clearly overdramatic, "This is all we can spare. Please, just take this."

Lorne hoped the Tallinn's couldn't recognize bad acting.

Cadman moved forward now. Her right hand lowered the P-90 and let the strap dangle it from her good shoulder. The majority of the guards at the entrance trained their arrows on her and for a good, long minute she was sure she was about to be target practice for about fifty people. When they did not fire, she ventured forth once more, her steps small and steady.

After about ten feet, she carefully laid the backpack onto the ground and, steadying herself, set a hand on the ground for balance. Lorne registered that her hand ended up inside the backpack for several seconds before she pushed herself off the ground and stood up. _What are you doing…_

"All yours!" she said perkily, sliding backwards slowly across the floor.

Tendo witnessed this ordeal and held the door ajar for them. "Hurry," he spoke again, quietly.

The lead guard now began to move forward. His sandals scraped the floor as he took careful steps, his bow still trained on Cadman. After several minutes, he finally reached the backpack.

"Geez, it's like a game of friggin' chess," Cadman said, her right hand now resting good-naturedly against her hip. "Hurry the hell up."

As if understanding her meaning, the guard double-timed it back to the large group amassed at the entrance. He gazed inside the bag, wary of its contents.

And he had every good reason to be.

Almost silently, Cadman whispered, "Ka-boom." The hand on her hip slipped downward only for a second, but it was enough to arm the pile of explosives sitting in her backpack. The guards eyes widened in realization as one of the blocks of C4 started to blink red.

"Goodbye," she said and hit the detonator.

Without warning, the resulting explosion blew Lorne and Cadman off their feet, slamming into the bodies of Parrish, Simmons and Elizabeth. The entrance merely blew apart, sending many guards flying out the doors from whence they came. Ronon and Teyla stood their ground, expecting Cadman's trickery, and fired into the group of guards amassed at the back of the room.

"Get up! Get up!" Ronon yelled.

Lorne quickly rushed to his feet, knowing the distraction would buy them little time. He pulled Elizabeth up and shoved her towards Tendo. "Go! "GO!"

Cadman was unconscious, so Lorne grabbed her hands and started dragging her across the floor. The scientists were already ahead of him, rushing for safety.

"We're clear!" Lorne called.

Ronon and Teyla continued unloading their weapons into the crowd, moving painstakingly slow towards the door. Arrows whizzed past their heads and struck guards on the other side of the room. They tried to _zig_ and _zag_ to avoid the deadly darts.

Soon enough, Tendo slammed the door shut and the entire group breathed heavily in the suddenly darkened room.

"Everyone okay?" Lorne asked and he received all affirmative answers in reply. "Cadman's unconscious. We'll have to carry her from here."

Ronon grunted, a sign of acknowledgement. "I'll take her." And in no uncertain terms, he hoisted Cadman over his shoulder, careful to not jostle her wounded one.

"Tendo," Elizabeth said, "What are you doing here?"

"There is not much time," he spoke. "The guards inspected the throne room and found the king in ropes. I returned for the afternoon deliverance, in which I inform the king of any requests the citizens of Talina ask of him. One of the guards whom I befriended told me of the circumstances. I am here to get you out of the city." He paused, and then added, "Safely."

"How do we get out of here?" Lorne inquired.

"Through the door from whence you came," Tendo replied. "We must travel quickly through the city, for word will spread fast that traitors are amongst our ranks. For your knowledge, I do not think you are traitors."

Teyla stepped forward. "Thank you, Tendo."

"It is my pleasure, especially with such fine company such as yourself, Miss Teyla."

She bowed respectfully. "Please, we must leave as soon as possible."

"But of course!" Tendo said, his voice nearly drowned out by the sudden banging on the door they had just entered. "Come! Come! I know the pathways."

They had traveled for nearly twenty minutes at as fast a pace as they could manage. Ronon easily kept up with the group, even though he shouldered the weight of Cadman.

Elizabeth was sure she was slowing everyone down, having been the only one in the group to garner less than five hundred hours of off-world experience. Clearly being holed up in her office with paperwork had done her little favors. After this, she would certainly see about procuring a treadmill to replace her office chair.

The city had grown quiet. The streets milled with few people. _Paying their respects to the king_, Tendo had said.

They came to an open area where the buildings of Talina suddenly grew more rural. The spaces between them widened to a substantial length and they could no longer use the covered overhangs and alleyways to their advantage.

The group continued on. The clearing was no different than several other areas they had passed, but it brought a new obstacle: the sound of horns.

"Watchers," Teyla spoke immediately. "They have spotted us."

"Yes," Tendo said nervously. "We must hurry! The Watchers will inform them of our position! Go! GO!"

They broke into a run. Elizabeth's lungs caught fire as they passed the thirty minute mark since leaving the Great Hall. Teyla and Ronon seemed to have no trouble at all getting around the twigs and rolls of logs littered throughout the wide expanse of area. Even Lorne was vaulting over several of them, while Elizabeth had to slow down and ensure she didn't trip.

_Think of John. What if your positions were reversed? Would he slow down now?_

"No," she said aloud, drawing a confused glance from Parrish.

She ran faster.

Another ten minutes and Tendo suddenly slowed down. His steps grew to a stop and he gazed ahead, the walls of Talina growing in front of them. The invisible walls were visible from this side.

Teyla, whose breath rapidly caught up with her, addressed the Tallinn. "Tendo? What is it? Have they already made it to the door?"

He did not respond.

"Tendo?"

Tendo's body fell, twisting as gravity sucked it mercilessly to the ground. An arrow stuck out of his chest, tall and proud; another victim claimed.

"Get down!" Lorne shouted and everyone dropped down.

"Where are they?" Simmons asked, peering out from a fallen, mossy log.

"Ahead of us." Ronon laid Cadman down gently. "They'll be behind us too, soon enough." He glanced sympathetically towards the fallen body of Tendo and then to Teyla.

She met his gaze. "He was a good man," she said, nodding in confirmation.

Ronon replied with a nod of his own.

"He did not deserve this." Teyla reached into her pocket and pulled out the simple orange flower from the throne room. She crawled forward and carefully laid it upon Tendo's body. "Be safe," she whispered.

"We have to move!" Lorne said. "It's not safe here. They're guarding the door out of the city!"

"We're trapped," Ronon spoke. He fired a few shots of his weapon towards the door to their salvation, hoping to pick off some of the guards. "We won't make it through that way."

Elizabeth judged their alternatives. She wasn't a tactician by any means, not in the field, but she could see a hopeless outcome when it arose. The guards had created a second pincer attack and were advancing from both sides. They had remarkable eye sight and relatively good aim. They also had huge numbers of archers. In such a vast, open area, the situation was dire.

_What would John do?_

He'd pulled off some crazy miracle, of that she was sure. John Sheppard had a knack for escaping death, but Elizabeth was sure her luck wasn't anywhere near that caliber.

"We're sitting ducks!" Simmons shouted, his handgun drawn for desperate purposes such as this.

_John would find a way out of here._

But I'm not him.

_If it was you lying in that room dying without oxygen, he would risk everything._

And she knew that to be the truth. She knew John Sheppard would give his life for her in a heartbeat. What kind of friend, what kind of teammate…hell, what kind of companion would she be if she did not—no—_could not_ return that favor?

"Alright," she said. "Everyone grab hands."

"What?!" Lorne shouted over the gunfire.

"No offense Dr. Weir," Simmons said between shots, "But this isn't the time for Kum Ba Yah."

She let that comment slide. "The wall isn't that far from our position. We're going to run through it."

Lorne shot her a look. "You know what that'll mean."

"Yes," she said, her face resigned. "I know, Major."

He stared at her for a few more seconds and then nodded, satisfied. "Alright everyone, on the count of three, grab a hand. We're going to run through the wall with the technology we got from Theoron."

Ronon continued shooting, keeping the arrows at bay as he fired where he assumed the best places to shoot from were. Teyla followed suit, waiting for the order to run.

"One…Two…"

"THREE!"

The group stood as one. They ran quickly, trampling over muddy trails and rotten wood. They saw and felt no arrows, out of the archers' range for the moment.

The wall drew closer and Elizabeth continued to debate her own intentions.

_He'll die if you do this. You'll only be able to get to his room, not out of it._

He might already be dead.

_And what if he's not?_

We'll die if I don't use it now.

_You'll die if you can't use it on him later._

She paused.

_Then we'll die together._

They reached the wall unopposed and before Elizabeth could think about the dilemma any further, she grasped Teyla's arm, who grasped Parrish', who grasped Simmons', who grasped Lorne's, who grasped Ronon's, who held onto Cadman, and activated the bracelet.

They phased through the wall to safety.


	6. Chapter 6

_**To the reviewers:**_

_**jodz92**_**: Better make the last one count! And don't worry, I know where the story is headed…On second thought, maybe you should keep worrying…**

_**Linda Gagne: **_**Time will tell if you're correct or not. It's good to keep everyone guessing!**

_**jaminesmommy**_**: Luckily, the king doesn't know how to dial Atlantis. **

_**Zanshe: **_**Let's hope so!**

_**Sheppardster:**_** Well, you got your wish! Final chapter, here she is!**

_**Katriel1987:**_** Excellent! I'm glad the story has kept your interest. And there's more whump where that came from!**

_**Iratus: **_**I do apologize for stopping the story. I've decided to devote more time to writing some more SGA fiction and decided to, first and foremost, finally finish this story. **

**-SGA-**

"Aye, I know he's dying, but there's nothing we can do about it!"

"Well then what do we do?" McKay shouted, glowering at the security camera depicting an unmoving John Sheppard, save for the soft rise and fall of his chest. One had to squint to see it.

"We wait, Rodney," Carson answered, warmly placing a hand on the physicist's shoulder. "We can't do anything until Elizabeth and the others get back. We have to hope they came to some sort of agreement."

McKay ground his teeth together. "They sure are taking their sweet _time_ then, don't you think?"

"Aye, it's close, I know." Carson sighed. Close didn't even begin to cut it. John barely had enough oxygen left in the tank. It had been three hours now. They had, at most, thirty minutes. And that was pushing their luck.

"Zelenka!" McKay nearly screamed, tapping his earpiece. "How are those repairs coming?"

Carson could overhear the Czech. "Not so good, I'm afraid. I've managed to reroute several of the frayed and damaged wires, but the bulk of the problem has not changed much."

McKay's entire body seethed with anger. "That's not good enough. We don't have much time."

"I can't work any faster! If you bothered to help me, I—"

"_I_ just temporarily fixed the conduits. The least you could do is fix the ventilation system!"

"I told you it would take days! Maybe weeks! You're lucky I've gotten _this _far!"

"But if you—"

"Rodney," Carson said, his voice a stern warning not to venture further. "Are there any other solutions?"

The physicist whirled on him. "No, no there's not! I've thought of countless scenarios and nothing is fast enough. There's just no _time_."

"Calm down, lad. For the moment, he's still breathing. We have _some_ time left."

"_Some_ time is not _enough_ time, Carson. We are down to minutes, not hours anymore."

And as if the Stargate itself had heard Rodney McKay's calls for distress, it sprung to life. Chevron after chevron clicked in place, each one an agonizing distance from the next.

"Incoming IDC!" Chuck announced. Carson waited with baited breath. Rodney stared with wide, tired eyes.

"It's Major Lorne! Lower the shield!"

Carson stood aside with the medical team, several stretchers at the ready, along with a plethora of first aid kits. One never really knew how much of anything they'd need when a team came back from a mission.

The Puddle Jumper flew into the room quickly and came to an abrupt halt above them.

Carson turned to his team. "We'll meet them in the Jumper Bay. Follow m—"

"Wait! They're landing!" McKay interrupted.

Sure enough, the Puddle Jumper lowered itself to the middle of the 'Gate room and the rear hatch opened. One by one, everyone exited in turn except Major Lorne.

"Carson!" Elizabeth called. The flight back to Atlantis was filled with worry and a yearning for an iota of hope for John.

"I'm here, Elizabeth!" Carson answered, jogging towards the group. He immediately noticed Cadman's injuries and directed two others to load her onto a stretcher. After a quick assessment, he concluded that her injuries were not life threatening and ordered her to the infirmary immediately. "Careful now, and bring her straight to Dr. Biro!" He turned to Elizabeth, a hopeful expression on his face. "Any luck, lass?"

Her eyes conveyed neither excitement nor disappointment. "We're not quite sure, Carson."

"You're not quite sure?" Rodney yelled, fingers dancing over the tablet in his hand. He pivoted his head to question her further. "How can you not be—Wait, what's that?"

Elizabeth followed his gaze and glanced down at the bracelet adorning her hand. "We managed to obtain this bracelet, Rodney. It allows the user to pass through physical objects—" She saw his eyes light up. "But unfortunately, we only have one usage left."

"One?" Rodney questioned. He turned back to Sheppard's wounded form on the screen. "What are we supposed to do with one? You can reach him, but you can't pull him out. You can pull him out, but you can't reach him!" He exhaled loudly, exasperated.

"Aye, that's quite the dilemma there," Carson supplied, earning a 'well, that comment was helpful' glare from Rodney.

"Yes, it is," Elizabeth replied dejectedly, "We had to use the device twice just to escape the planet…The king does not take kindly to women in power." Carson audibly sighed. "Rodney, have you made any progress?"

"The conduits are fixed," he supplied, "But the ventilation system is completely trashed for that Sector due to the explosion. Zelenka's trying but…" He trailed off.

"It's not enough," Elizabeth finished for him.

"No…no, it's not."

John's movement was minimal and Elizabeth felt like she was watching some sort of snuff film, waiting for the hapless victim to succumb to its injuries. It was sickening.

"Dr. Weir," Teyla ventured, having remained silent along with Ronon throughout their discussion. "Perhaps there is some way we could get the device to John instead of using it to get to him?"

"That's a good try, Teyla, but the device is attached to my wrist. Unfortunately, wherever it goes I have to go as well, if we intend to use it."

Ronon chimed in, "Then what if we managed to get _you_ to Sheppard without using the device?"

A calm of silence fell over the group, the only noise a faint hum as Lorne piloted the Jumper back into the Jumper Bay above them. "You know…" Carson started, "That's not such a terrible idea."

"Stop right there," Rodney interjected. "Before you get any ideas, how could we possibly get her there without Atlantis stopping her? Even if we gave her a mask, a suit and her own supply of oxygen, there is no direct route to Sheppard without exposing him to the virus. Not only that, but Atlantis won't willingly open any of the doors for Elizabeth in case it results in the virus _spreading_."

"You don't have to go through any doors," a voice said. Everyone twisted their heads to look up towards the dialing console.

"Chuck?" Elizabeth asked.

"Really, you don't," Chuck added, apparently having overheard their conversation. Not that Elizabeth minded, of course. Perhaps listening to a clearer head was the help they needed right now. "If you suit up Dr. Weir and rig an explosive with a detonator, she could blow up the rest of the debris wall and walk straight to the room Colonel Sheppard is in."

Elizabeth turned to Rodney, who returned the look, if a little wide-eyed. "He's…he's actually right. You could detonate an explosion large enough to let you through, Elizabeth."

She was tired of running through all these plans of action without getting started on any of them. John was surviving on borrowed time as it was. "Carson, get a suit ready. And Ronon, inform Major Lorne that we need an explosive charge with a detonator ready to go as soon as possible." The immediate pounding of several pairs of feet let her know that everyone began moving as fast as they could.

"We still have a problem."

"What is it, Rodney?" she asked him, wondering what other obstacles were lying in their path. In _her_ path.

"Assuming this all goes to plan and ten minutes from now you're standing outside the room with Sheppard in it, what then? If you open the door, you'll expose him to the virus."

Elizabeth looked thoughtful for a moment, mulling over the possibilities. "It took over two minutes for Lieutenant Waldon's team to succumb to the virus…do we have any idea how lethal the contagion is?"

"Lethal enough to kill four people in just over two minutes!" Rodney shot back.

"Rodney!" She was trying to keep him under control and needed him level headed for this discussion. "What I mean is, if John is exposed to the virus for only a few seconds, do you think that would cause any permanent or irreversible damage?"

"I…" He paused. "I don't…actually know. Why? Your intention is now to run inside and what? Pull him through the wall?"

"That's the plan, Rodney."

"But that won't work!"

"Why won't it work?"

"B-Because!" he stammered. "If you pull him through a wall will you not rematerialize on the other side of that wall? The other side of _every wall_ of the room Sheppard is in is just another hallway or room exposed to the virus. Due to what must be the city's own intervention, he's currently sitting in the only room virus-free in almost that entire half of the Sector!"

"There has to be another way," Teyla commented, trying to not only calm Rodney down, but to try and get the discussion to look at alternative methods.

"There's not, Teyla! I've tried! I've tried everything!" Rodney threw his hands in the air, his voice cracking again for the second time that day. "It's hopeless." His shoulders slumped in defeat. "There's no other way."

"There _is_ another way," Elizabeth said, her eyes set with a hard, determined look.

"How?" Rodney asked.

She turned to Chuck, who she knew was still paying rapt attention. "Notify any available marines near Major Lorne to give him a comm. unit ASAP," she ordered, affixing her own communication unit to her own ear. "I have a plan…and he's not going to like it."

**-SGA-**

The room was quiet.

_To be expected, John. You can't hear anything, remember?_

His head was pounding, his body ached like hell and he wasn't quite sure how much oxygen was left in this tank, but considering breathing was starting to become more difficult, he was pretty sure it was set to 'almost on empty' mode.

Atlantis was trying to keep him awake. The city's lights increased and decreased in brightness depending on how close he was to passing out. The low hum of the floor made him smile softly. It was like a cat purring its approval every time he opened his eyes. He slightly caressed the floor, silently blaming his emotional lapse in judgment on the concussion. He was _petting the floor_, for crying out loud.

The hum grew louder, sounding almost like approval.

_It's okay_, he thought towards her. _They'll get me out of here soon_. He attempted to be reassuring, stroking the tiled flooring and directing his thoughts outward. Atlantis was concerned. When the city was concerned for his emotional well-being, it was usually because he had stayed up all night after a mission gone sour or had a really heated argument with Rodney or Caldwell or some of the more defiant marines who didn't take too kindly to his lax and unusual commanding methods.

But when the city was concerned about his physical well-being…well, that meant he _really_ was in trouble. She never acted this way when Teyla or Ronon had just given him a good beating in the gym when sparring, or when an Ancient device he just recently activated decreased his pain threshold by about ninety percent which made a pesky hangnail feel like a gunshot.

No, this was _much_ worse.

He kept his hand moving, now making slow, circular motions on the floor. He'd hate to die here, he decided. What a way to go…finding a stockpile of drones and then being nearly blown to smithereens minutes afterwards. He hoped Lieutenant Waldon's team wasn't faring as badly as he was…and at that thought Atlantis' purring came to a sudden halt. He hoped that was just coincidental and, after a moment of quiet indecision, she started to hum again.

Sighing, John made a scan of the room. He had grown accustomed to doing so every fifteen or so minutes—or at least, what he _believed_ was every fifteen minutes. The goopy mass of black had faded somewhat and he could now actually make out the video screen in the room that Rodney frequently updated with messages.

GOT A NEW PLAN, this next one read. ELIZABETH IS ON HER WAY…MAYBE.

Well, that was new. Since when did Elizabeth become the resident rescue squad? And what was that "maybe" all about? Were they not sure?

John had a feeling this was one of those 'Sheppard miracles' in-the-making, as Elizabeth had resorted to calling them. Every time he planned one of those, it always came with a fine print that you needed a microscope to see. And if you happened to view through that microscope you'd see the word "maybe" attached.

For once, he was glad not to be the one in charge of one of those miracles.

**-SGA-**

"Go straight ahead and take your first right."

Moving around in the Hazmat suit was surprisingly easy for Elizabeth, despite the added weight and slower pace it provided her. She followed the green paint line on the wall, wary of the explosives in the backpack resting atop her shoulders. Lorne had double-timed it on getting everything together and was waiting for her instructions.

"Taking my first right," she said aloud, relaying her actions to Rodney as he guided her to the wall of debris blocking her from getting to John. It had taken them less than fifteen minutes to get her to this point and arrange her plan of action. The probability of something going wrong increased dramatically with how sloppy and quickly she had put all of this together with the others, but that was a risk she had to take—and one John had to put up with if he was going to get out of this mess alive. "How's he doing, Rodney?"

She could almost feel the sudden breath of annoyance through her comm. unit. "He's at least acknowledging what I type…for now. Take a left at the next intersection."

And it was that _for now_ that had her moving even faster, if such a thing were possible. They hadn't come this far just to lose John now.

Rounding the corner, she saw the wreckage blocking her path. "I see it," she announced, and started to take off the backpack.

Carson's voice filtered through. "I'd just like to point out that I'm not a big fan of this proposed 'plan,' Elizabeth."

She smiled, well aware of the risk. "I know Carson, but we need to make this happen now or it _will_ be too late." Unzipping the military issue pack, she began piling the blocks of explosives in the center of the large wall. Cadman's first explosion provided a helpful indentation in the wreckage.

"I understand, lass, I do…Doesn't mean I have to be happy about it."

"No, no it doesn't," she agreed. "Just be ready. This shouldn't take more than a few minutes."

"Aye, I will. And Elizabeth?"

She applied the charges as instructed and drew the detonator switch from the backpack. "Yes, Carson?"

"Take a deep breath," he finished, his voice tinged with worry.

"Will do," she tossed back. "I'll see you soon." The Hazmat suit made turning more difficult and the decidedly squeaky rubber kept her on edge. "Rodney, I've set the charges."

The clap his hands made was audible. "Great, now step back around the intersection you just came from and cover your ears." There was a distinct pause. "It's going to get loud."

"Thanks for the advice," she replied, finishing the trek as fast as the suit would allow her.

**-SGA-**

The room began to shake. John braced himself against the wall.

And just as quickly as it had begun, the room settled. Atlantis' constant hum disappeared. The video screen started typing words again.

SORRY, EXPLOSION.

_Leave it to Rodney to be specific on the details, _John chuckled softly to himself.

That Hail Mary he was hoping for was certainly taking its sweet time, he decided. His breathing was becoming shallow gasps and colors started to swim in and out of his vision.

The purring returned.

This time, however, the lights could not keep him awake as his eyes slid closed and his head fell limply to the side.

**-SGA-**

"Elizabeth, you have to hurry!" were the first words she heard as the ruckus caused by the explosion died down. "We're losing him!"

Her feet slammed into the floor, one loud step following the next as her boots made contact with the ground beneath her. "Major Lorne!"

"Yes, ma'am?" he answered urgently.

"Are you in position?" she practically yelled, taking a hard left at Rodney's directions.

"Yes, I am, ma'am. Doctor Beckett's ready as well."

"Perfect, we'll be there in less than a minute," she threw back. "How much farther, Rodney?"

"You're there! The door on your right! Stop!"

Her entire body screeched to a halt as she located the correct room. The three crystals to her right indicated the door was operational. She swiped her hand across it.

Nothing happened.

"Rodney, the door's not opening!" she said, attempting the swipe again. And again.

The same chime rang out again and again, but nothing happened.

"I told you before, Atlantis isn't just going to let you in! The city knows you'll expose him to the virus! Remember, to the city he's Wonder Boy!"

And there was the flaw in the plan she'd been dreading. Chuck accounted for the wall of debris, but not for the door actually separating John from the rest of the area.

_Please_, she thought outward, placing her hand on the wall closest to her. _Please, let me in._

She did not have the Ancient gene, nor did she want it. If it was not hers to begin with, she did not want to artificially impose herself upon the city. But now, being this close to John, that decision was beginning to become a regretful one.

The door still did not open.

"He's losing oxygen!" Rodney cried. His voice was high-pitched, she could tell, but it was muffled, as if she was unconsciously blocking him out.

_Please_, she tried again. _I don't know if you can hear me_, she pleaded,_ But we're trying to save him. We're trying to bring him back. I have something that can help him, but you have to let me in._

Elizabeth knew John's connection with the city was stronger than anyone's. Not only that, but it was also the most unusual relationship she had ever seen. It was instinctual. Atlantis knew what John was thinking at all times, or so he had told her. If he wanted a door to be opened, it opened. If he wanted a light to be on, it turned on.

And for that to happen, it had to be able to read him. To feel him. To feed off of his thoughts, his feelings, his desires.

So she tried to replicate those qualities within herself. Her desire to save John. Her utter devotion to getting him out of that room alive. Her determination to not fail.

_PLEASE_, her inner voice screamed, her brows furrowing in sadness and despair.

And the door swooshed open.

With a small cry of joy, Elizabeth leapt into the room and towards John.

His body had fallen to the floor having slid a short trek down the wall. As fast as possible, she gripped him and yelled into her communication unit. "We're on our way!"

Standing herself up straight, she angled herself and John backwards towards the wall. Facing ahead at the opposite wall, she hugged his middle tightly and leaned backwards. Her left hand reached across ever so slightly and pressed down, activating the bracelet.

The next thing she knew, her and John plummeted backwards and began to fall.

She could not think. She could not breathe.

She could, however, feel the unimaginable pain of having her body distorted the way it was. For that, she was most certain she would be glad that John was unconscious for this ride.

Her plan was rather simple. Instead of dropping into the room below them, they would phase _into_ the wall. She had double-checked with Rodney and this wall separated rooms all the way down to the star-drive submerged into the ocean around the city. In this way, they would rematerialize underneath not only the surface of the ocean, but underneath the city itself.

The fall was long and the wait…there were no words.

And with a sudden rush of wind and water and air and heat and cold and noise and silence and calm, the ocean sprang up to meet them and all the air in Elizabeth's lungs was forcefully pushed outwards. Her body trapped John's and refused to let him go, but his weight pulled her downwards and she struggled to move. To breathe. To think.

Just as fast as her world had gone from a brightly lit room to the dark depths of the ocean, her quick descent flipped upside-down and they started to climb. Weight was now applied to both her front, courtesy of John, and to her back.

Within seconds her and John had broken through the surface of the water and she rolled to her left, gasping for breath. Her hands fumbled for traction and gripped something hard.

She did her best to smile.

"Hell of a landing, Dr. Weir," Lorne's voice echoed through her comm. unit, which remarkably remained intact.

She didn't have the breath to answer him.

Instead, she patted the roof of the Puddle Jumper beneath her and rolled to her other side. John's form was unmoving as they rose higher into the air, just enough so that Carson could exit the rear of the Jumper and climb up to meet them.

Extending her hand, she placed it upon his neck to feel for a pulse and blew a sigh of relief. It was weak. It was thready. But it was there.

Carson wasted no time in joining them. "Aye, how about not doing this again for at least another month?" he said, rushing to John's side and immediately applying a new oxygen mask to his face.

Elizabeth gazed up at the sky and observed the clouds moving slowly away in the distance and the sunlight filtering through around them.

She smiled again. "Agreed, Carson."

**-SGA-**

"...coming around…"

"…like a drunken monkey…"

"…blue jell-o?"

"…Die Hard. Definitely, Die Hard."

Voices were filtering in and out of his head at random.

Placing them was much more trying than usual and it didn't help that everything sounded muffled and impossible to pick out.

"John?"

Well now, _that_ he heard.

"Wake up, John."

And as if commanded, he cracked his eyes open slightly and immediately shut them. The light hurt like a bitch.

"Rodney, could…" more static, more noise, "…the lights, please?"

"…not a house maid, you know!" someone answered and, yes, that was most definitely McKay.

This time, he opened his eyes without closing them again.

"Hey John," Elizabeth said, seated to his right. He smiled lazily at her, his head lolling to the side. She smiled back and placed her hand on his wrist, giving it a slight squeeze. "You made it back."

He nodded slightly. Locking eyes with her, his brows knitted together, the unspoken question passing between them.

"Let's just say I got to pull off one of your miracles. And no," she added, "You're not going to live it down. Not for a while."

They shared another round of smiles and he mouthed the words 'Thank you' before his eyes shut again of their own accord.

Carson had said he'd make a full recovery within the next week or two, but needed to stay in the infirmary to rest for another few days at the minimum.

Stepping out into the hallway, Elizabeth let John's team take over residence near his bedside for the next few hours and leaned against a nearby wall. She caught Rodney's "Stop almost dying, it's getting really old now" before the doors closed behind her.

Her plan was a success and they would eventually have a weapons cache of over six thousand drones after Rodney and Radek fixed the ventilation system to filter out the virus. But not everything had gone smoothly.

Four people of their expedition had died today and, according to Teyla, many more on the planet of Talina. Lieutenant Cadman was wounded and John was worse for the wear. Those were the days she dreaded: when life wasn't content with Atlantis being uneventful. But those were the risks they all signed up for when coming to this city and really, it did try its best to accommodate them.

_She_, Elizabeth reminded herself. _Not It, She._

She knew John had dubbed the city a female as most men did when they grew fond of personal, material objects. A prized car or an expensive, lavish item. But after its reaction to her when she pleaded for the city to cooperate, Elizabeth realized she could no longer refer to the city as simply an object or entity.

_She_ was as alive as they were.

And just as Elizabeth felt the pain, the sorrows and the joys of this expedition, so did Atlantis. She suffered when she could not help John, and so did the city. She felt the ache of losing SGA-6 to the pathogen, and so did the city.

Placing her hand on the nearest wall, Elizabeth closed her eyes and sent a soft _Thank you_ towards Atlantis.

And before she could remove her hand, Elizabeth's expression grew shocked as felt the city begin to hum, as if acknowledging her approval.

A faint smile spread on her face and, removing her hand, Elizabeth started the trek back to the Gate Room to continue her work.

Today felt like a much better day than yesterday.


End file.
